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Steamboat Springs — The recruiting circus that has surrounded Steamboat Springs High School junior quarterback Austin Hinder could be coming to a close.

After months of a who's-who of college football coaches showing up at the high school, trying to convince Hinder to play for them, the quarterback rated No. 2 overall on www.rivals.com said he plans on making his decision in the next month.

Hinder confirmed Thursday he has a top three of the University of California-Berkeley, UCLA and the University of Notre Dame, with the Berkeley program being the early favorite.

"I'm pretty hefty on Cal," Hinder said after working out with teammates. "I'm loving Cal. They have everything I could ask for in a program. They have the best quarterback coach in the nation, and their facilities and education are one of the best. I'm close. I have to call a few coaches and take a few more visits, but I want to get it over with pretty soon."

Hinder broke onto the national scene after attending several camps after his sophomore season. He's seen his stock explode after his junior year, when he accounted for more than 2,300 yards of total offense and 24 touchdowns.

He was named the Army All-American Combine's No. 1 quarterback, holds 14 scholarship offers, is ranked the No. 84 overall prospect by rivals.com and is listed at No. 34 by MaxPreps and recruiting guru Tom Lemming.

During the weekend, he attended an Elite 11 camp at Cal, and Stanford University's junior day. Just in the past few weeks, coaches from the University of Alabama, University of Nebraska, Colorado State University, University of Colorado, Cal, UCLA, University of Southern California, Louisiana State University, Notre Dame, University of Kansas and Kansas State University have all trekked to Steamboat to see him.

Hinder said he was close to committing to Cal during the weekend but wanted to take a few more weeks to make sure he is making the right decision.

He said his top three schools all fit the criteria he's looking for at the next level.

"It came down to the three things I wanted to pick in a school - education, coaching staff and location," he said. "All those have places I'd like to live, amazing coaches and great academics."

Hinder previously said he was going to ride out the recruiting process, even waiting until the end of his senior year to make a choice. But he admitted the process has been grueling at times, and now he has a better judgment of where he'd like to play.

With his recruitment being on the front burner for so long, Hinder said narrowing down his college choices has allowed him to now look at his main goal.

"I'm focused on winning a state championship," he said. "That, right now, is my main focus."