Columbia, Mo. ? Xzavie Jackson got the bad news at the beginning of the summer. The defensive end from Wichita wasn’t going to play in the first game of his senior season against Murray State on Sept. 2. because of a one-game suspension imposed by Missouri coach Gary Pinkel

So Jackson, who had fought so hard to regain the starting spot he initially lost midway through last season, was in danger of losing it again.

“I knew the whole summer I wasn’t going to play in that game,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately, something happened in the summer, but it’s over with now.”

Though Jackson would not comment on the reason for the brief suspension he did say at a news conference Monday that “It was something more inside than anything else.”

Jackson was forced to watch from the stands as his teammates routed Murray State 47-7 in the opener. But the next week, in Missouri’s 34-7 win over Ole Miss, Jackson made his first start since last year’s Oklahoma State game.

He made two tackles and broke up a pass in that game and made two sacks in a 27-17 win over New Mexico the next week.

Jackson said his inspired play was due to the suspension and losing his starting job to Stryker Sulak last season. Jackson started 19 straight games at defensive end from the end of his true freshman season in 2003 until Missouri’s 38-31 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., last Oct. 8.

It was an admittedly painful experience for Jackson, a veteran player who had made almost 100 career tackles before being replaced on the depth chart by an up-and-coming redshirt freshman.

“I made some critical mistakes the game before when we played Oklahoma State,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know I made those mistakes but Coach sat me down and said, ‘I know you’re a better player than this.”‘