FOUR AT W. KY. PLEAD GUILTY TO CHARGES

Three Western Kentucky football players and a former athlete pleaded guilty Monday to amended charges stemming from a fight outside a campus fraternity.

Kentucky attorney general Andy Beshear said that receiver Xavier Lane, running back Quinton Baker, linebacker Tyler Obee and defensive lineman Cecil Stallings — who’s no longer on the team — entered guilty pleas in Warren Circuit Court. The charges were amended to complicity to second-degree wanton endangerment and complicity to fourth-degree assault under extreme emotional disturbance.

A Bowling Green Police report stated Jerald Armfield, a fraternity alumnus, was tackled, kicked and punched by players while trying to intervene in a disturbance behind the Pi Kappa Alpha house.

The men were placed on conditional discharge for two years and must complete community service along with paying Armfield’s medical expenses, the release said.

WKU announced on Tuesday that Lane, Baker and Obee have been suspended for the Sept. 2 season opener against Eastern Kentucky.

Johnson goes to diversion program.

LINCOLN,

NEB.» Former Nebraska receiver Keyshawn Johnson Jr. will enter a pretrial diversion program on two marijuana charges.

The case was sent to diversion Monday in Lancaster County Court. Charges would be dismissed if he complies with terms of the program for one year.

Johnson, son of former NFL receiver Keyshawn Johnson, last month pleaded not guilty to possessing an ounce or less of marijuana and paraphernalia.

Penn St. overshadowed.

Defending Big Ten champion Penn State returns a Heisman Trophy candidate at running back and a record-setting quarterback, and the Nittany Lions generally are regarded as one of the 10 best teams in the country.

They’re not picked to win their division.

The Big Ten East favorite, as usual, is Ohio State, which is loaded with as much talent as ever and motivated to atone for an embarrassing finish to 2016. — The Associated Press