Suspended Montana Grizzly quarterback pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of rape stemming from the accusations made by a fellow student that he sexually assaulted her in February.

Missoula County District Attorney Fred Van Valkenberg formally charged Jordan Johnson, 20, with sexual intercourse without consent based on the acquaintance's claim that Johnson raped her in her bedroom Feb. 4 after she invited him to watch a movie.

The Montana State University's former football team captain entered his not guilty plea to the charge on Tuesday in a state court in Missoula.

"Jordan strongly maintains his innocence and looks forward to the opportunity to prove his innocence at trial, clear his name and return to pursuing his education," Johnson's attorney David Paoli said in a statement last week.

Johnson has become second member of the same team to face charges of sexual assault after running back Beau Donaldson charged for raping an acquaintance in September 2010. He too has pleaded not guilty.

As per the student athlete conduct code both the players have been suspended from the team and barred from involving in the team activities pending the outcome of the case.

In May, the US Justice Department launched an investigation into the handling of more than 80 reported rapes in the past three years in Missoula, many of them not related to the campus. The investigation is tied to complaints by unnamed sources that authorities were failing to aggressively investigate sexual assault claims.

That probe and an investigation by the US Department of Education is set to examine how officials at the 15,600-student campus in western Montana responded to at least 11 student-related sexual assaults reported there since 2010.

At least three of those involved rape accusations against University of Montana Grizzly players, including an alleged gang rape that did not result in charges being filed.

Apart from these federal agencies, NCAA too will be conducting an investigation as it notified the university in January.

Kevin McRae, Montana's associate commissioner of higher education, said the NCAA has interviewed university personnel but said the school could not speak to the substance of those interviews.

The NCAA last month slapped tough sanctions against Penn State University over the sexual abuse of children which included a $60 million fine, forfeiture of the school's football victories for the past 14 seasons, a ban of the university's team from lucrative post-season play for four years and a reduction in its football scholarships.

The spate of alleged rapes, the implication of student athletes in some of them, and the abrupt dismissal of the football coach and athletic director in March has shaken Missoula, a city of 86,000 whose identity and economy are tied to the university and its football team.