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After a "tedious" start to the recruiting process, Isaiah Matthews has a scholarship offer from Colorado and growing interest from FBS programs. The 6-foot-0, 210-pound athlete from Redding (Calif.) Enterprise was one of the standout performers at the Rivals Camp in Northern California earlier this spring.

"You start out by going online and e-mailing a thousand coaches and filling out a thousand questionnaires but you don't get anything back," said Matthews. "Finally, it gets to the point where you start to get letters in the mail and then you start to talk to coaches and you start to see new coaches follow you on Twitter. That is the part where it starts to get really exciting."

Colorado running backs and tight ends coach Klayton Adams stopped by Enterprise last Thursday, and hours later, Matthews had a request to call Buffaloes head coach Mike MacIntyre.

"It actually caught me off guard a lot," he said. "Coach Adams told me about how slow their recruiting process is and how they don't usually offer kids until they come to their camp but then the head coach told me I had a full-ride offer. It was really amazing. They said they really enjoyed my character, my grades and the type of kid I am. They said I am what they are looking for in an athlete at their school."

"My girlfriend and her father go down to that state all the time and I really enjoy the state of Colorado itself," he continued. "It also helps me because before you get your first offer, you are really caught up in the recruiting hype, doing every single thing you can to get recruited. Now that I at least have my first offer, I can kind of sit back and now focus on becoming the best football player I can be."

Matthews' interest in the Buffaloes is genuine and extends beyond the simple relief of having an offer on the table. He likes what MacIntyre stands for.

"He told me their philosophy of the 'Four Fs,' which is future, foundation, family and football. I really liked that," Matthews said. "That is one thing I am looking for the most. I want a college that resembles my high school and the way we do things. I feel like Colorado has a lot of that."

Since receiving the offer from Colorado, Matthews has been in contact with middle linebacker Addison Gillam, who played at a rival high school in the Redding area before his record setting true freshman season with the Buffaloes.

"Gillam had great things to say about his experience there," he said.

Cal, Wyoming, Washington State, UCLA and San Jose State are the other colleges that have let Matthews know they are watching him, while countless other schools have been filing up his mailbox with form letters.

"Those are the ones that have given me verbal confirmation that they're interested," he said. "There are always some schools as a kid that you dream about and one of those schools that I always dreamed about as a kid was USC, but I haven't really gotten much from them.

"One of our linemen from Enterprise just signed with Washington State so I think it would be fun to go there but right now there is no real preference. I am just really excited that I have an opportunity to play college football. After the coach offered me from Colorado, I looked more in-depth into the school of Colorado and their campus. I am extremely interested and extremely excited about Colorado."

Matthews said it has been his goal for a while now to make his college decision before his senior year. Like a lot of recruits, he does not want the distraction of recruiting to keep him from achieving his goals on the field.

"I hope I end up falling in love with some school and I want to get the chance to visit Colorado," he said. "It would be great to have the assurance that no matter what happens, I have a school to go to at the end of high school and I don't have to worry about it."

But unlike a lot of recruits, Matthews said his college decision will have "nothing to do" with facilities or a team's recent record.

"The biggest thing I look for in a college is how the coaches coach the team as men and try to prepare them for later in life," he said. "I want them to be focused more on developing the players as people than actual football players. That is what I really liked about Colorado. They are really focused on helping their players become better people when everything is said and done."

A two-way starter at Enterprise, Matthews said most colleges are recruiting him as a running back, the position he would prefer to play at the next level. Colorado simply offered him as an athlete. Defensively, he has spent time playing defensive end, linebacker and safety in high school.

"I have been playing both ways my whole football life," he said. "There are a lot of times I haven't ever come out of the game. I have been a punter and a kicker, too. It is something I really enjoy because at the end of the game, I can say I did everything in my power. I can say there is nothing else I could have done."

Matthews' 2,220 rushing yards last season were 690 more than any other player in the Eastern League. He also led the league with 32 touchdowns.

"I know it sounds corny but my determination is my best attribute as a running back," he said. "When I run through the hole, I am not the type of person that is going to go down on first contact. I run with a purpose. I like to carry two or three defenders, making a fighting effort for every single yard."

Matthews is currently competing in track and field. He has thrown the shot put 50-feet-7-inches and the discuss 140-feet-10-inches this spring.