In October of 1924, one of the most rememberable paragraphs ever penned was written to describe the greatness of college football. Grantland Rice wrote:

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. "

If you substitute the names Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden for White, Leinhart, Peterson and Bush, then you have a composite of the 2005 Heisman Trophy candidates.

Oklahoma's Jason White and Adrian Peterson and Southern California's Matt Leinhart and Reggie Bush have laid waste to the college football landscape this season as they led their perspective teams to a national title matchup. That is why the four, along with Utah's Alex Smith, will ride into New York's Downtown Athletic Club on Saturday in search of a Heisman trophy.

For those who thought the final vote for BCS was wrought with controversy and intrigue, wait until the Heisman trophy winner is announced. All four candidates had posted incredible numbers and snared their share of supporters.

Conventional wisdom says that Peterson and White will grab most of the votes east of the Midwest states. Everything west could be headed toward the Southern Cal duo.

You also have to factor in that never in the history of the Heisman race have there been teammates from two schools as finalists for the award. Who is taking votes away from whom? Did voters choose their selection on which team is the best out of USC and Oklahoma? Will the fifth candidate, Smith, slip through because the four front-runners are dividing the votes?

It is questions like those that almost guarantee this will be the most anticipated award show since Michael Jackson did the moonwalk at the American Music Awards.

However, is too much being made out of the award? In the past 13 years the Heisman has more often than not spelled doom for the winner. Since 1990 only Eddie George ('95), Charles Woodson ('97) and Ricky Williams ('98) have had meaningful careers in the NFL. It's still to early to tell about Carson Palmer ('02).

Others such as Eric Crouch ('01), Rashaan Salaam ('94) Gino Torretta ('92) lasted about as long as Milli Vanilli.

So the question begs to be answered, why would anyone want to put Heisman Trophy winner on their resume?

The answer is really simple. Despite some of the absolute failures that went on to the NFL, the Heisman represents the best college football in the country. The winner can claim for the rest of his life that out of thousands of players, there was no one better or more valuable than he was.

The winner will be linked forever with the likes of Barry Sanders ('88), Bo Jackson ('85), Herschel Walker ('82), Billy Sims ('78), Jim Plunkett ('70), O.J. Simpson ('68), Roger Staubach ('63), Billy Vessels ('52) and Doak Walker ('48).

While the winner is hardly ever unanimous, he is the one that goes down in history. No one remembers who took second.

And that is what White, Peterson, Leinhart and Bush have been battling for this season. History. Even though White won it last year, you didn't see him declining an invitation to the ceremonies. That's because he felt the pride once before and wants to feel it again.

However, White will not be joining Archie Griffin ('74, '75) as the only two-time winners of the award. The sixth-year senior quarterback's season is comparable, if not better than 2003. And he is heading back to the BCS championship game.

But while it's unfair, the Sooner signal-caller is carrying too much baggage from last year's collapse in the Big 12 championship and national title game. Yet, he will be close.

Bush is the long shot of the group. While he led the foursome in spectacular plays, he didn't handle the rock as much as the rest, and his stats bear it out. In the season finale against UCLA the tailback accounted for more than 200 total yards, but carried the ball only 16 times and caught six passes. He is a game-breaker. That can't be denied. However, voters like players that can carry a team for four quarters.

I have bypassed Smith, and that may come back to be a mistake. He led all the candidates in touchdowns (38 TDs) and his team is also undefeated heading into the Fiesta Bowl. Smith has already taken home the Sporting News college player of the year. Yet, it is unprecedented for a player from a mid-major conference to win the Heisman.

For my money the race will come down to Leinhart and Peterson.

Leinhart's numbers are impressive and he has led his Trojans to two undefeated seasons. The junior is the posterboy for what Heisman voters like. He is the quarterback for the No. 1 team in America. Any other season, he would probably win the award hands down.

But this is not any other season. This year Peterson burst on the scene from the small town of Palestine, Texas, and showed he was not going to wait his turn. The frosh split time with Kejuan Jones in his first three games and still went over the 100-yard marker. When the biggest game of the season arrived for the Sooners, Peterson dominated. He ran for 225 yards against rival Texas and never looked back.

Peterson's had at least 100 yards rushing in 11 games -- an NCAA freshman record -- and is only 20 yards from breaking the NCAA's season rushing record for freshmen, set by Wisconsin's Ron Dayne in 1996. He led the nation with 314 carries and didn't lose a single fumble.

Out of the four contenders, it was Peterson that came up huge time after time in the biggest games. And to me, that signifies what the Heisman winner should be. Who can be counted on when all the chips are on the table? This season that has been the freshman.

What: Heisman Presentation

Where: New York

Can be seen: ESPN, 25