The honey-badger madness has gotten so heated, the school has had to step in, invoking NCAA rules that prevent anyone from profiting from an amateur athlete's likeness.

WSJ: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU's Honey Badger, Stalks the Heisman

This week the school issued an online warning about the sale of any honey badger-related items.

WSJ: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU's Honey Badger, Stalks the Heisman

Like the actual honey badger, his fearlessness belies his 5-foot-9, 175-pound frame.

WSJ: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU's Honey Badger, Stalks the Heisman

" As the season progressed, T-shirts began appearing at games quoting lines from the video like "Honey Badger Don't Care" and "Honey Badger Takes What He Wants.

WSJ: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU's Honey Badger, Stalks the Heisman

Mathieu's quick rise to stardom parallels that of the honey badger, an animal that was little understood until the mid-1990s when Keith and Colleen Begg undertook the first intensive study of it.

WSJ: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU's Honey Badger, Stalks the Heisman

Their study helped publicize the practice of beekeepers killing the animals and spur measures to identify "badger-friendly" brands of honey.

WSJ: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU's Honey Badger, Stalks the Heisman