WEST'S CAREER AT SE MAY BE OVER

Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings expected a hotly contested three-way battle for the Indians' starting quarterback position this year.

Billings still hopes that happens, but a knee injury suffered last week by Rashad West during a pickup basketball game could put that competition in serious jeopardy.

Billings said Monday that an MRI done on West's injured knee showed the probability of ligament damage. Surgery would almost certainly put the senior-to-be out for the season and, since he has no available redshirt year, effectively end his college football career.

The plans are for West to try and rehabilitate the knee well enough to play this year.

"We'll try to rehab it and see how it goes," Billings said. "Hopefully the rehab will allow him to play, because if he has surgery, he'd be out for the year."

An exceptional runner, West has been a starter for parts of the last two seasons. He passed for 917 yards and rushed for 364 yards as a sophomore, then last year passed for 911 yards and rushed for a team-high 313 yards. He split time with fellow senior-to-be Bobby Brune both seasons.

West, Brune and touted redshirt sophomore Jeromy McDowell had all been expected to contend for the starting quarterback job this year.

"It's disappointing, but life goes on," said Billings of the injury to West. "We still have to kick the ball off Sept. 1 (in the season opener at Eastern Michigan) whether he's playing or not."

Four players leave team

While the status of West will be a question mark for a while, Billings knows for sure that several players who were being counted on to play key roles this year will definitely not be in the lineup Sept. 1.

Four players -- running back Marcus Patton, linebacker Sturge Cumberford, offensive lineman Dan Joiner and safety Jake Hill -- all recently left the program for what Billings said were various personal reasons.

Patton was Southeast's leading rusher among running backs as a true freshman last year as he gained 264 yards to rank second overall behind West. Patton broke into the starting lineup late during his rookie season.

Cumberford, a converted running back, was the Indians' sixth-leading tackler last year with 56 as he started much of the season.

Joyner started last year and was being counted on this season as one of the few experienced members of a young offensive line.

Hill was a backup last year and figured to be in that role again this season.

"Any time there is a new program, you'll have people leaving," said Billings, who had several defections last year when he took over as Southeast's coach. "That's not always a bad thing. Probably only about 30 percent of the players we had when I got here are still with us."