"He almost had me in tears when he got teary-eyed," Leinart said.
Leinart, who won last year's Heisman Trophy, was the most-relaxed person in the room.
"I was telling everyone I planned on finishing third," he said. "Last year in the TV interview I had a ball in my throat and couldn't speak. I got a lot of attention when I came to New York. This year, I came out and saw Reggie and Vince get the attention. I really wanted to sit with all the former winners."
Leinart admitted he voted for Bush and Young. In an unorthodox move, he did not list a player for third place.
"I wasn't going to vote for myself," he said. "I could have just voted for first place."
USC coach Pete Carroll watched the ceremony from his home and said the victory was a combination of Bush's performance and the Trojans' overall success.
"He did everything for a couple of years to prepare for this moment of recognition and did everything for the voters to decide," Carroll said. "It's so clear it goes along with the winning. There's a lot of Heismans at USC now."
Bush said winning the Heisman will not affect his decision whether to skip his senior season and apply for the NFL draft.
"It's not about a trophy," he said. "I don't know. I still haven't thought about it but I will wait until after this game."
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