Paul Petrino assessed the University of Idaho football team as soon as he arrived in Moscow and set a list of recruiting priorities.

One was running back and to help fill the need, he signed College of San Mateo transfer Jerrel Brown to a letter of intent Wednesday.

“He’s a big, physical, downhill, as good a looking kid as you can see,” Petrino said. “He’s a guy we were looking at a little bit at Arkansas. He’ll be a great player for us.”

Brown (6-0, 220) comes to Idaho after two seasons at College of San Mateo, where he was a running back on the 2012 Nor-Cal championship team. As a sophomore, Brown carried the ball 91 times for 428 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry with his best game of 2012 a 19-carry,96-yard outing against Laney College. As a freshman in 2011, he had 104 carries for 539 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“He’ll bring some leadership,” Petrino said. “He’ll bring some toughness to the team. He’s a guy you can give the ball to a lot.”

Brown is a 2010 graduate of Hillsdale High School at San Mateo, Calif.