Members of the Heisman Trust face a difficult decision sure to draw a torrent of criticism regardless of how they rule.

Should the Heisman Trust ask former USC and current New Orleans Saints star Reggie Bush to return his trophy?

A clause, printed in red letters on the ballot, makes it a particularly vexing question: “RULES GOVERNING VOTE: In order that there will be no misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of a candidate, the recipient of the award must be a bona fide student of an accredited college or university including the United States Academies. The recipient must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA Student Athlete.”

OK, five-minute break for everyone to make their jokes about, “bona fide student.” Now onto the wording that makes this a tricky one: “… must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA Student Athlete.”

Amateurism, of course, ranks high among those rules, and the NCAA determined that Bush, by accepting so many gifts from agents for himself and his family, so blatantly strayed out of bounds that USC has been slammed with a two-year bowl ban and the loss of 30 scholarships in a three-year period.

USC returned its replica of the Heisman Trophy, and now all eyes turn to the Heisman Trust to see if Bush will be asked to do the same.

The Heisman Trust must decide if the 2005 award should be vacated. Runner-up Vince Young, the Texas quarterback, would remain runner-up. Heisman Trust chairman William Dockery has said he has set no timetable for the decision.

Behind the scenes, he is seeking opinions from officials who work in collegiate athletics. Here’s guessing he’ll ask for Bush to return the stiff-armed trophy, which will lead many to protest: “Come on, you telling me he’s the first one to accept benefits who has won the Heisman?”

Hollow argument. Try it out with the next officer of the law who pulls you over for exceeding the speed limit. I have: “I’m sorry, officer, I was just keeping up with the flow of traffic.”

This always elicits instructions on how to pay or appear in court, as does: “The car I drive back home doesn’t have much get-up-and-go, and this rental car, wow, it really gets away from you if you don’t watch carefully. Next time I’m going to rent … “

Interruption, a tear of the yellow or pink form and a suggestion to, “Keep your speed down.”

Only one method worked to escape a speeding ticket, and I still feel ashamed at the depths to which I stooped.

Speeding to Manhattan a little more than a year ago to make first pitch of a KU-K-State baseball game, I let the officer know why I was in a hurry. That morning I had played my one and only full round of golf in a group that included basketball coach Bill Self. (He crushes the ball, but the demands of his job keep him from playing frequently, so the short game needs fine-tuning). I shared that with the officer and until now haven’t confessed that with anybody. That name-drop spared me a ticket.

As for Bush, the easy choice for the Heisman Trust is to ask for the hardware back. In this case, the easy decision also happens to be the right one.