Los Angeles ? As Matt Leinart drifted toward the left sideline, scrambling to buy extra time, he motioned David Kirtman to break off his route and go downfield.

With Virginia Tech defenders closing in, Leinart looped a perfectly thrown pass that dropped into Kirtman’s arms with two defenders hanging all over him.

Leinart’s creativity was good for 26 yards and a first down, and the top-ranked Trojans went on to beat the Hokies, 24-13, last weekend in their season-opener.

“You react. You don’t even think,” Leinart said this week when asked about the play. “I’m just real comfortable playing. That stuff happens. You just play. It was a great catch.”

And maybe an even better throw, just what the Trojans have come to expect from their rangy quarterback.

It wasn’t always that way. Leinart went from a red-shirt sophomore who never had thrown a pass at the collegiate level to a standout player last season, leading Southern California to a share of the national championship.

He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Now, playing behind an inexperienced offensive line and without standout receivers Mike Williams and Keary Colbert to torment opposing secondaries, Leinart and the Trojans might be hard-pressed to defend their crown.

“It’s a good challenge for us,” the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Leinart said. “It’s a little different not seeing Keary or Mike out there. But all our guys are capable. They’ll be fine.”

And so will USC, which was the preseason pick to be the first repeat national champion since Nebraska in 1994-95.

South California quarterback Matt Leinart (11) looks to pass against Virginia Tech during USC's 24-13 victory last weekend in Landover, Md. Leinart went from untested sophomore to standout quarterback last season, leading the Trojans to a share of the national championship.

Leinart and the Trojans were shaky at the outset of the Virginia Tech game; he misfired on his first four passes before completing 19 of his last 25 for 272 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s a whole different person right now,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s the man. His teammates know it. Last year, other guys were helping him. Now he’s helping other guys. He has the effect on other people that great players do; he makes other players better.”

Leinart completed 255 of 402 passes for 3,556 yards and 38 touchdowns with only nine interceptions last season — comparable numbers to what Carson Palmer compiled in winning the Heisman Trophy the previous year.

“He really didn’t do his best stuff until he took over, once we named him the starter,” Carroll said of Leinart. “He just didn’t look back. He maximized his opportunity.”

Leinart admitted he surpassed his own expectations last season.

“I couldn’t imagine playing the way I did,” he said. “It was a fun year. I kind of surprised a lot of people, including myself.”