Johnson Felt Shortchanged : College football: He quit Cal State Northridge football team because he says athletes don’t receive enough financial aid.

Patrick Johnson, president of Cal State Northridge’s Black Student-Athlete Assn. who quit the football team this week, said Friday he left because he is dissatisfied with the amount of financial support the school provides student-athletes and not because he was angry about being forced to switch positions.

Northridge Coach Bob Burt, who will lead the Matadors in their opener tonight at San Diego State, said Thursday that Johnson quit the team because he was unhappy about being moved from outside linebacker to nose guard and because of his financial difficulties.

On Friday, Johnson said he was contemplating leaving for some time and voiced his displeasure with Burt.

Specifically, Johnson said, athletes are not receiving enough money in scholarships and financial aid.

“It comes down to . . . just food, shelter and clothing,” Johnson said. “Like I told Coach Burt, ‘I will not starve or be homeless for (any) man.’ He’s throwing incentives in my face like: ‘You know, Patrick, you’re getting a chance to play against (San Diego State’s) Marshall Faulk, the greatest running back in the country, in front of 50,000 people.’

“I told him, ‘The hell with that. Three months from now I won’t be able to go to McDonald’s.’ ”

Johnson voiced his complaints at a team meeting this week, but no other players joined him in quitting. A source on the team said that black players who urged teammates to hear Johnson out did not agree with his complaints.

Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 236-pound senior who missed the 1992 season because of a finger injury, was active two years ago in the formation of a task force to investigate charges of racism within the athletic department.

Johnson said his decision to leave the team was not racially motivated but that racism still exists in the athletic department.

Johnson said he plans to meet with Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson later this month to discuss his concerns.