Word travels fast in college football recruiting circles, as Kenny Stills was reminded recently.

Within 20 minutes of running a scorching time of 4.36 seconds in the 40-yard dash en route to being named MVP of a scouting combine in Los Angeles last Saturday, the La Costa Canyon High receiver got a congratulatory text message from former El Camino star Nelson Rosario, now at UCLA.

And it wasn't just old gridiron rivals who noticed Stills' eye-popping performance. Two days later, the coaching staff of defending national champion Florida -- which had barely communicated with Stills to that point -- called him to say a scholarship offer was in the mail.

If it wasn't apparent before, it is now: North County's finest football player has gone national. Or, to use recruiting parlance, Kenny Stills has "blown up."

"It hasn't sunk in yet. I feel like I'm living a dream," Stills said. "Every day I wake up and ask myself, 'Is this all real?' "

Stills wasn't exactly flying under the radar last fall, of course. As a junior, he caught 64 passes for 1,270 yards and 16 touchdowns to lead La Costa Canyon to the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship and earned first-team all-state recognition among underclassmen from CalHiSports.com.

But in a sign of the never-ending nature of the football recruiting cycle, Stills has taken full advantage of the offseason before his final high school campaign to significantly raise his profile.

Stills' spring tour started in March in Las Vegas, where was named to the all-camp team at a seven-on-seven passing tournament. Then, in late April, he earned MVP honors for his position at a Nike-sponsored camp on USC's campus, a showing that helped him secure a scholarship offer from the Trojans a few weeks later.

For the capper, he returned to L.A. last weekend and, despite a sore hamstring, posted that laser-timed 4.36 -- the fastest 40 he has ever run -- and looked silky smooth in receiving drills to emerge as the cream of the crop at the combine organized by recruiting service Scout.com. The ensuing offer from the Gators was followed this week by ones from traditional powers Tennessee, Nebraska and Oklahoma -- giving Stills 17 offers total.

"I've been working real hard, and people are finally noticing it in the recruiting world," Stills said. "I'm playing like I have a chip on my shoulder."

Based on what Stills showed during the spring evaluation period, Scout elevated him to the No. 6-ranked receiver and the No. 41 overall player in the country. Rivals.com, the other main recruiting network, is only slightly less bullish on Stills, ranking him 21st among wideouts and 135th in the nation.

Both in terms of guru ratings and quality and quantity of scholarship offers, Stills has become the most highly regarded North County football player in quite some time. During the nine years that Scout and Rivals have maintained online databases of prospects, only Oceanside quarterback Derek Shaw (class of 2005) and Vista cornerback Leon Hall (2003) are in the same neighborhood as Stills.

"I think he's the best prospect in San Diego County, hands down," said Brandon Huffman, the West regional manager for Scout, referring to a star-studded class that includes top running backs Dillon Baxter of Mission Bay (a USC commitment), Brennan Clay of Scripps Ranch and Ricky Seale of Escondido. "And he's the best kid from North County that I can remember.

"The question about Kenny was always his speed, and then he ran that 40 and it's like: All questions answered."

The questions may have been answered, and positively, but Stills isn't done trying to showcase himself. He plans to attend the elite Rising Stars camp at USC at the end of this month and has been invited to an ESPN-run, seven-on-seven competition in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in July.

He's also mulling competing invitations from two postseason all-star games: one in Florida and the other in San Antonio.

"He doesn't have anything else to prove," La Costa Canyon coach Darrin Brown said. "He's talked about focusing on the team and on his senior season, but he's a competitor and he likes to compete."

Before he returns to the camp circuit, Stills will attend three weeks of summer school so he can achieve his goal of graduating after the fall semester and enrolling in college for the spring. At the end of his packed summer, he and his father -- former NFL safety Ken Stills Sr. -- might drive north to tour some of the California schools that have offered him scholarships, and Kenny also hopes to check out Florida's campus during his trip east for the ESPN event.

He plans to take all five of his allotted official visits and not commit to a school until after the Mavericks' season, but the only visit he has decided on is Penn State.

"I'm excited about talking to schools on the East Coast and possibly getting away from California," Stills said. "I enjoy the recruiting process. Not every kid gets to go through it. I'm going to ride it out."