It was a long way from Finland.

And from falling over furniture in my living room, for that matter.

Ah, but Mike Leach was back in his element last Friday night — or one of his many elements, at least.

The Wazzu boss had a quip ready when interviewed on the field just a minute or two after the 30-27 thriller that kept the Cougs unbeaten and yanked a rug from underneath No. 5-ranked USC.

“There’s a lot of people here,” Leach said, straight-faced, as every inch of the Martin Stadium turf was covered by giddy celebrants. “It’s like Woodstock, except that everyone has their clothes on.”

I promise you he was thinking about that one all week.

Before we talk about Finland and my furniture, though, just a little bit more on the game…

Just looking at the score, you might think this was routine back-and-forth, with Wazzu getting a big break at home and kicking some momentous field goal to seal a mighty upset.

NO WAY.

For most of the first half, the Cougs couldn’t catch the football — on offense or defense.

If they had, this never would have come down to Erik Powell’s boot and Jahad Woods unloading that “Honey, I’m home!” sack-and-fumble on QB Sam Darnold to clinch the game.

Wazzu could have won by two or three scores — the Cougs really may be that good.

I’d feel fantastic if they go on to do something historic, frankly, because I know Leach, and I’d love to see this eclectic genius earn a serious spotlight trophy — something that would put the focus on his football brilliance instead of his fascination with Blackbeard and Calico Jack.

You DO know he’s a pirate junkie, right?

When Mike took over the Texas Tech program in 2000, he had no head coaching experience except a year with the Pori Bears of the Finnish American Football League (yes, there he was, six miles from the Gulf of Bothnia in 1987).

The guy is a sucker for struggling programs that never have, and never will, get the very top recruits. Not in depth, anyway.

Yet in 10 years at Tech, he never had a losing season despite competing in the murderous Big 12.

NOW HE’S come to the Palouse, which in football terms is the Northwest’s version of Lubbock.

He’d already started winning prior to this season, but now he may have enough athletes on defense and special teams to complement Luke Falk and the famous Air Raid.

You know a lot of the stories about Leach — his pirate obsession, that law degree, the book on Geronimo, his interest in chimps and Jackson Pollack.

His picture should appear in the dictionary under the word “diverse.”

So here’s another tale, just for fun …

Mike’s brother, Tim, is one of my best friends (he calls Mike “Shark,” for whatever that tells you) and we were more or less neighbors when I was the sports editor in Provo, Utah.

Tim phoned one night, said Mike was in town to visit family, and they wanted to come over and hang out.

SOMEWHERE in the ensuing hours of laughter and learning — these are two very bright guys — I asked Mike about former Kentucky and NFL quarterback Tim Couch, whom he’d tutored for a year as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator.

Mike can jump from thought to thought, assuming you’ll keep up, and suddenly he wanted to explain something specific about the difference in Couch’s three-step and five-step drop — as Tim and I just stood there, slack-jawed.

Mike grabbed something off the coffee table to use as a football and said, “See, with the five-step, he …”

Ah-yeeeeeeee!!!

There was coach Leach — on the fourth of that five-step drop — tumbling over the back of a recliner and looking for all the world as though he’d broken his neck.

But …

No problem.

He got up ready to “swing his sword.”

And if you don’t know THAT reference, you’re not really following college football.

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Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Reach Steve at: scameron@cdapress.com.