WSU Football Notebook | It's time, finally, for WSU's Dillon

All through fall camp, Washington State coaches had talked about how senior receiver Charles Dillon could be headed for a bust-out year.

Last Saturday, Dillon showed why.

He caught eight passes for 100 yards in the Cougars' 45-17 win over San Diego State.

No one was surprised when Michael Bumpus (118 yards) and Brandon Gibson (116 yards, two touchdowns) went over the century mark against the Aztecs, but this was fresh territory for Dillon.

He could be in for another productive game Saturday when the Cougars (1-1) get a visit from Idaho (1-1) for a 7 p.m. regionally televised game.

"Last year I came in right when camp just started and I had to learn the whole offensive system," said Dillon, who nonetheless thought he should have had more passes thrown his way in 2006.

"I was a little irritated at times," he admitted.

He took out some of that frustration by working hard on his blocking. As a result, receivers coach Mike Levenseller considers him the best blocker among the wideouts.

Dillon returned 10 kickoffs last year and has returned six so far this year but is still looking for his first return longer than 29 yards.

"This week I look forward to having a big return," he said, explaining that blockers are getting used to the new return scheme. "I'm one or two blocks away from breaking a big one."

Dillon, 6 feet, 190 pounds, got his first start last November at Arizona State when Jason Hill was injured. He caught three passes, one of them for a touchdown. The following week he caught seven passes for 40 yards in the Apple Cup and entered this season with that momentum.

Dillon originally committed to WSU out of Hueneme High School in Oxnard, Calif., but fell short of the entrance requirements. The Cougars stayed in close touch with him when he starred at Ventura Community College in football and basketball.

Arizona offered Dillon a scholarship, and Oregon and UCLA showed interest, but Dillon remained steadfastly a Cougars recruit.

"They stayed loyal to me and kept their side of the deal, so I had to keep mine," he said.

Note

• Starting free safety Husain Abdullah (concussion) was cleared to practice and participated in Wednesday's drills.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com