USC Will Let Johnson Start Opener Saturday : College football: NCAA investigation won’t keep receiver out of San Jose State game.

Taking a firm stand behind Keyshawn Johnson, Coach John Robinson said Tuesday that the wide receiver will start for USC in Saturday’s season opener, despite a continuing NCAA inquiry that could threaten Johnson’s eligibility.

The decision puts the Trojans at risk of having to forfeit games Johnson plays if he is sanctioned for taking money from a sports agent.

Confident that Johnson will be cleared of any wrongdoing, Robinson said he does not consider playing his star senior against San Jose State at the Coliseum a gamble.

“I’m more than confident,” Robinson said. “Our university has made a thorough investigation, dating to his birth certificate and his baptismal, and we’ve cooperated with the NCAA.”

Sources familiar with the case said a time frame to complete the inquiry has not been determined. Officials are examining the varied explanations of how Johnson received money from Elliott Vallin, a San Diego sports agent who deals with baseball players.

NCAA officials initiated the inquiry last month after being supplied taped telephone conversations in which Vallin said numerous times that he had given Johnson $1,200. Vallin told officials he made up the sum in those talks with Jesse Martinez, a one-time sports agent recruiter from San Luis Obispo. Martinez taped the conversations and gave copies to NCAA officials.

Johnson, Vallin and Tim Shannon, a former USC football player, told NCAA and Pacific 10 Conference investigators that the player received a $200 loan to pay his rent in May of 1993 while he was attending West L.A. College.

They said Shannon lent the money because he and Johnson have been friends since 1979. Johnson was the Trojans’ ball boy when Shannon was a USC defensive back. Vallin said he gave Johnson the check as a favor to Shannon, his then-business partner.