Bit or bust? Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn post Notre Dame locker room break-in video
Former USC Trojans quarterback and 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart found himself in hot water last week as he and Notre Dame football legend Brady Quinn tried to sneak into the Fighting Irish locker room.
The entire ordeal was recorded and Leinart put the video on his TikTok channel Wednesday.
Both Leinart and Quinn are analysts on FOX's college football pre-game show "Big Noon Kickoff." Each week, the show travels to a different university where a game is taking place in order to talk college football in front of hundreds of cheering fans. Last week, the producers opted to take the show to South Bend, Indiana, ahead of the famous Notre Dame-USC rivalry.
The decision made sense for a multitude of reasons, the history behind both teams being arguably the least influential. Of course, Leinart's alma mater versus Quinn's was an intriguing situation for viewers as well. The game was also arguably the best of the weekend as both USC and Notre Dame are ranked teams. USC was ranked ninth in the coaches poll heading into the game, while Notre Dame was ranked 21st.
It's impossible to determine when the video was taken, but given the cleanliness and pristine nature of the Notre Dame locker room from the footage we saw, it's safe to assume that it was taken before last Saturday, likely sometime during the week leading up to the game.
Why did the pair want to break into the Notre Dame locker room?
It's difficult to tell the reason from the video, but this was likely intended for social media content. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision by either quarterback. They were each wearing letterman jackets for goodness sake. There was even a designated camera person. Perhaps this was going to air on FOX before the start of the game last Saturday. Clearly though, things didn't appear to go according to plan.
Were they just trying to relive their glory days? That could be the case, but these are big time TV personalities we're talking about. Surely, they could've gone anywhere on campus if they'd just asked. Maybe the thrill of feeling young again was just too much for either of them to pass up. Leinart did just turn 40 this year and Quinn is not too far behind at 38.
The bigger question is why doesn't Quinn have lifetime access to the Notre Dame locker room? Quinn threw for 3,400 yards and 37 touchdowns his final year at Notre Dame. Sure, the team lost every bowl game they went to during his tenure with the Fighting Irish, but they were one of college football's elite programs during that stretch. Quinn left Notre Dame more than 15 years ago and there are still Fighting Irish fans with shrines dedicated to him. Quinn should have access to every corner of that university for his entire life. Instead, he gets the cops called on him?
Who won the game?
Notre Dame won their game against USC in dominant fashion, 48-20.
Notre Dame has now beat USC in five of their last six meetings, with USC's lone win coming in 2022, 38-27.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series against USC 49-37-5. The Jeweled Shillelagh, the name of the trophy given to the winner of the annual USC-Notre Dame football game, was introduced in 1952. Since then, Notre Dame leads the series 34-30-3.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn break into Notre Dame locker room video
