updated 9:34 p.m. ET Dec. 10, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Run, Reggie, run — all the way to the Rose Bowl and with the Heisman Trophy in tow.

A step away from playing for an unprecedented third straight national title, Reggie Bush and No. 1 Southern California stomped into the championship game by overpowering their crosstown rivals Saturday.

Bush ran for 260 yards and two touchdowns in a 66-19 victory over No. 11 UCLA, the 34th consecutive win for the top-ranked Trojans and 16th straight against a ranked opponent.

Now only Texas stands between USC (12-0, 8-0 Pac-10) and a perfectly historic season.

“This is the type of season we wanted from Day One,” Bush said. “This is the type of season we envisioned. We were able to make it come true. It’s great feeling.”

Just about the time the unbeaten and second-ranked Longhorns were wrapping up a 70-3 victory over Colorado in the Big 12 title game that will send them to the Rose Bowl, USC was starting its own victory march to Pasadena.

The Bowl Championship Series will make it official Sunday: Trojans vs. Longhorns on Jan. 4 in the national title game.

USC has had its close calls in 2005, most notably against Notre Dame and Fresno State, but the Trojans brought back memories of their 55-19 beating of Oklahoma in last year’s national title game with their performance against UCLA (9-2, 6-2).

“We’ve done everything we can do to this point, we’ve done it with a little flair, and a little bit of drama along the way,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “This game was an exclamation point for this 12-game run.”

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The festivities at the Coliseum started with a warm farewell to a senior class that’s been part of one of the greatest dynasties in college football history. Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart was last to be honored with a long standing ovation before USC and UCLA played for the 75th time.

From there, it was Bush’s day.

Against the 115th-ranked run defense in the country, USC made its intentions clear from the start: Keep it simple and let Bush put a punctuation mark on his Heisman campaign. Both Bush and Leinart were in New York on Saturday when the big bronze trophy was handed to Bush.

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On the second play from scrimmage, Bush zipped off tackle for 28 yards. USC ended up driving 70 yards on 16 plays without completing a pass. UCLA held the Trojans to a 35-yard field goal by Mario Danelo. It was a small victory and one of the few UCLA would be able to chalk up in its seventh straight loss to USC.

Leinart started the game 0-for-5, looking overanxious in his final home game. He finished it 21-for-40 for 233 yards with three touchdown passes.

“I was a little tight out there in the first half, you know it was an emotional day,” Leinart said. “I was off, obviously.”

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More importantly, though, he ran his record as a starter to 37-1 thanks to a running game that piled up 430 yards, USC’s most since 1989, and a defense that stymied one of the best offenses in the country.

“We were just on fire,” Bush said. “We knew we can do whatever we wanted against these guys as long as we execute. Hopefully, that confidence will be able to carry over to the Rose Bowl.”

USC was backed up with a third-and-10 at its own 3 at the start of the second quarter, when Bush found a huge lane off the left end and streaked down the sideline for 65 yards.

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