Scott's size, speed and powerful running style vaulted him into the media glare and onto the national recruiting radar in 2005, when he was a Moorpark High sophomore.
Scott rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and scored 19 touchdowns for a team that advanced to the Southern Section Division IV championship game against St. Bonaventure.
As a junior, he ran for nearly 3,200 yards and scored 46 touchdowns.
But in January 2007, Scott left Moorpark, which was losing its entire starting offensive line to graduation, and transferred to St. Bonaventure, a parochial school that had won seven Southern Section football titles.
"That was [difficult] because I was leaving people I knew," Scott said. "That was a big deal but, I don't know, things weren't stable there and I just didn't like it anymore so I had to go. And I think I made a good decision."
Said Moorpark Coach Tim Lins: "Unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it, it's part of high school sports now."
Scott was no stranger to Therrien.
As the Seraphs' defensive coordinator in 2005, Therrien devised a scheme that slowed Scott in the division title game, limiting him to 93 yards in 22 carries as St Bonaventure won.
Shortly after Scott transferred to St. Bonaventure, Therrien became the head coach.
"The first day he came out here for spring training, he busted his butt -- he was one of the fastest guys I've ever seen," Therrien said of Scott. "He did everything we asked of him."
Scott impressed teammates as well.
"He didn't come in and expect everyone to hand him anything, he came in and worked hard," quarterback Casey Serna said.
Last season, Scott ran for 2,433 yards and 34 touchdowns, and once the season ended, the recruiting ramped up.
Scott carried two cellphones -- one for his personal life, another for recruiting -- to handle the onslaught of inquiries from coaches and reporters.
USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian came calling but Scott recognized a logjam when he saw one.
"They have way too much," he said of the Trojans' depth at running back. "I'm not about to sit three years and then play one year."
Before UCLA visited twice in less than a week, he said, "They're not a big factor."
Alabama and Clemson -- "I don't even know you," Scott recalled thinking -- were among the late-in-the-game suitors that recently made pitches to talk with him.
