Last summer, USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow flew to St. Louis to confer with Rams coaches about the myriad ways they use versatile running back Marshall Faulk.

Next summer, don’t be surprised if the Rams’ coaches fly to Los Angeles to study how Chow is using Reggie Bush.

Faulk is multi-talented, but Bush is young and multi-talented. He’s a running back. He’s a receiver. He’s a kick returner. He’s a punt returner. He’s even a passer. If you try to pigeonhole him, you’d better have lots of pigeonholes.

Faulk is a fine comparison, given their varied talents. But Barry Sanders is probably more accurate. Like the NFL Hall of Famer, Bush can stop on a dime, give you 9 cents change, then blow past you before you can bend to pick it up. But unlike Sanders, Bush doesn’t always line up neatly in the backfield, where defenses can keep an eye on him.

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Sometimes he’s a split end, or a flanker, or a tailback. Sometimes he runs a reverse and passes the ball. Sometimes he drifts out of the pocket and becomes a target for a middle screen, or he’ll proceed downfield on a deeper route.

What Chow didn’t need to discover on his reconnaissance mission last summer was a basic philosophy with which to apply Bush’s eye-popping gifts. The idea now is to create mismatches, which the diabolical Chow likes to do anyhow. In this case, he has the ultimate weapon to do so, a finely tuned Frankenstein’s monster in a sleek Batman shell. So far, he’s scaring the socks off everyone he encounters.

In the opener, on the road against a surprisingly formidable Virginia Tech squad, matching Bush against a slower defender turned out to be the key to victory. Quarterback Matt Leinart found Bush on three long touchdown passes, and that helped put away the stubborn Hokies 24-13. After that, a star was born. Well, not exactly.

The star was born the moment he committed to USC out of Helix High in San Diego.

Last year, as a true freshman, Bush gained 521 yards on 90 carries — while splitting tailback duties with LenDale White and Hershel Dennis. Bush also had 15 receptions for 314 yards, four for TDs, and averaged more than 27 yards a pop on kickoff returns. He was named a first-team freshman All-America selection after posting 1,331 all-purpose yards.

You can see why Chow sought outside counsel in order to maximize the capabilities of his new toy. It’s like buying a computer: You can satisfy yourself by doing the basics, or you can take a class, delve deep and really explore.

This season, after only seven games, Bush is on the verge of surpassing last year’s rushing total — also while splitting time with White. So far he has 429 yards in 77 carries. And he has more receptions at this point — 23 — than he did all of last year.

The Heisman buzz on Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson is strong, as it should be. Ditto for Leinart and Sooners QB Jason White. But when it comes to pure, all-around, pound-for-pound value from a college football player, it’s hard to beat what Bush brings to the table. Kirk Herbstreit, the sanest and least annoying of the ESPN bobbleheads, has maintained all season that Bush is the best player in the country.

Some of the credit for this wunderkind’s emergence on the national stage goes to USC head coach Pete Carroll. While some head coaches are petrified about doling out significant and consequential playing time to mere frosh, Carroll has made it a critical ingredient in his winning formula. At USC, if you can play, you play, regardless of class. That outlook was responsible for the phenomenon that was Mike Williams in 2002 and 2003, for wideout Dwayne Jarrett’s emergence this year, and, of course, for Bush’s coming-out party.

Carroll throws youngsters into the fray early. Sometimes the results are a tad hideous, as evidenced by the dropped passes early in both Williams’ and Jarrett’s careers. But once these gridiron toddlers become acclimated to game conditions at the Division I-A level, they settle down and become reliable. This year, Jarrett went from a clumsy neophyte to the No. 1 receiver on the No. 1 team in the nation.

Bush went from being a potential once-in-a-generation player to a genuine once-in-a-generation player.

Of course, not playing Bush was not really an option. From the moment he stepped onto a practice field during training camp in the summer of 2003, Bush’s dizzying array of moves while carrying the football hadn’t really been seen at USC since the days of Anthony Davis in the mid 1970s. And he was a good kid — smart, down to earth, respectful of others yet supremely confident.

Now he’s one of the more popular Trojans among his teammates — they call him “The President” — and probably THE most popular player among USC fans. He has turned a run-of-the-mill punt return into an event. He causes teams to go away from him on kickoffs. When he comes into the game, defenders cast desperate looks at their sideline for advice. “I don’t care what formation they’re in,” Washington coach Keith Gilbertson observed. “You better know where No. 5 is. OK?”

The only drawback to having a star burst upon your program is the reality that you won’t be able to keep him. He’s a sophomore, and after next year likely will turn pro. Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, a former Trojan himself, has already opined that Bush is ready now.

But there’s still a season and a half left in his career at USC, which gives the NFL plenty of time to get ready for him.

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