Quarterback Matt Leinart beat out Matt Cassel to be the starting quarterback at USC in 2003. "I won, but I didn?t even win convincingly," said Leinart. "It was close." Beyond this, "I had to play well to keep my job." Before this duo competed, Cassel had the misfortune of having to back up Carson Palmer, Leinart pointed out. "Carson Palmer is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL," Leinart said. "I?m not going to talk about myself in that way. But I ended up having a pretty good career there. "The cards never really fell into place for him. But he always did well. He could always play." Leinart has had a bumpier professional career than Cassel has after the success the Patriots' quarterback has had following the injury to Tom Brady.