McMahon was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and moved with his family to San Jose, California when he was three. He played high school football his freshman and sophomore years at Andrew Hill High School in San Jose and played his junior and senior years at Roy High School in Roy, Utah, graduating in 1977.\n', '

McMahon mainly served as BYU\'s punter during his freshman season. Also he played baseball (1977), but he played enough at quarterback to throw his first-ever collegiate touchdown pass against UTEP. He continued as the Cougars\' punter as the 1978 season began, but when Marc Wilson was injured in the third game of the season (against Colorado State), McMahon became the starting quarterback. McMahon led BYU to victory against CSU, accounting for 112 passing yards, 80 rushing yards, and two touchdowns. He was named Chevrolet Player of the Game and WAC Player of the Week for his performance. McMahon and Wilson shared quarterback duties for the rest of the season; McMahon played well enough to earn All-WAC honors and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America. The best game of his sophomore year was against Wyoming: he passed for 317 yards and rushed for 49 more yards, earning another WAC Player of the Week award.\n', '

McMahon had suffered a knee injury towards the end of the 1978 season and BYU coaches chose to redshirt him the following season. McMahon watched from the sidelines as Wilson set nine NCAA records and tied two others. Wilson became the first BYU player to earn consensus First Team All-American honors, and he finished third in Heisman Trophy balloting.\n', '

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