USC football: Dillon Baxter says suspension has taught him to be more responsible

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Freshman tailback Dillon Baxter, suspended for USC’s season opener at Hawaii for violating team rules, said Wednesday that he has learned a valuable lesson.

“Just be responsible, do what you need to do and stop acting like a knucklehead and everything should be fine,” Baxter said while meeting with the media for the first time since training camp began.

Coach Lane Kiffin announced Baxter’s suspension last week, a day after USC’s Department of Public Safety filed an incident report about an unnamed student “violating team curfew” and “being under the influence of a controlled substance,” at the campus dormitory where Trojans players were housed during the first two weeks of training camp. The student was cited to USC’s office of Judicial Affairs.

A source with knowledge of the situation said the unnamed student was Baxter. The source, who requested anonymity for lack of authorization to speak publicly about the matter, said officers smelled marijuana in the dormitory.

Kiffin said Baxter’s suspension was for an accumulation of unspecified incidents that have occurred since the former San Diego Mission Bay High star arrived in January.

“I’ve done a couple things, and things happen, and I made a mistake,” Baxter said. “But I’m going to move on from here on out.”

Kiffin said he was leaning toward leaving Baxter at home when the Trojans travel to Honolulu so that the freshman could concentrate on school and avoid having television cameras trained on him on the sideline.

Baxter said the media attention generated by his suspension has taught him that “it’s not like high school.”

“I’m starting to realize the whole picture,” he said. “I’ve just got be smart with the things I do and realize that I’m under a microscope and [I’ve] just got to be a leader do the right things.”

Barring injury, Baxter will make his debut Sept. 11 at the Coliseum against Virginia.

“I’m excited for the first home game back, playing Virginia in front of all the home fans,” he said.

-- Gary Klein