It takes an extraordinary 8-year-old to turn down a trip to Disney World.

But that's just what Isaiah Compton did last winter when his mother, Cindy Compton, informed him that he qualified for a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Having been diagnosed with Burkett's lymphoma, a fast-growing cancer, Isaiah had an opportunity to pick anything he wanted. Anything.

He wanted a chance to stand on the sidelines with the Mansfield University of Pennsylvania football team.

The Mountaineers entered the 2004 season with high expectations. They had 15 returning seniors and had posted one of the best records in school history last season at 8-3. But after ending up on the wrong side of a 63-3 count in the season opener, the Mansfield players were feeling more than a little sorry for themselves.

That was until they met Isaiah and received a new appreciation for being student-athletes.

As wishes go, Isaiah's was a simple one. His mother works at Mansfield as the family literacy coordinator.

"My kids and my husband are so into football -- you can't imagine," she said. "I was expecting Isaiah to say something about football, but not necessarily Mansfield. I thought it was pretty neat."

Perhaps amazing would be a better description since Isaiah had actually never met any of the Mountaineer student-athletes other than through reading the roster posted on the school's athletics Web site.

"He just liked to be on the Internet and look at the Mansfield players and check out rosters of NFL teams," said Compton. "We did that at the hospital a lot."

Arrangements were made for Isaiah and his younger brother to lead the Mountaineers onto the field and serve as water boys for the September 4 home opener, which also happened to be the fourth annual Josh Palmer Fund Pigskin Classic, a fund-raiser named for a former Mansfield football student-athlete, Josh Palmer, who overcame Hodgkin's disease. Palmer returned to the football field and later started a fund to assist other youth battling the disease.

Mansfield sports information director Steve McCloskey, who addressed the team before the game and shared Isaiah's story, believes the boy did more than just pass out water that day. He inspired an immediate and drastic change in the team's attitude.

"You could tell immediately the appreciation that here's a kid who doesn't know if he's going to live long enough to be in their position and yet all he wanted to be was one of them," said McCloskey. "They lost the game, but they played inspired."

The season has now pushed past the halfway mark and Mansfield's football fortunes have not rebounded as the team had hoped. But Isaiah's presence still lingers.

"What really brought it home to the student-athletes is that when you're at a small school and you're playing before maybe a couple thousand fans, you start to wonder if it is worth it. Then you have a kid you really don't know who cares more about you than he cares to go to Disney World or to meet the president or go to an (NFL) Eagles game -- the things these guys would do if they had just one wish. It had a drastic impact on them," said McCloskey.

The day had a drastic impact on Isaiah, too. Not only did he get his wish, he also was showered with other gifts including an autographed team poster, a Josh Palmer Fund Pigskin Classic T-shirt and an autographed jersey worn by former Mansfield football student-athlete Dan Holland, a linebacker who led NCAA Division II in tackles as a junior and was a two-time Division II linebacker of the year.

"The football team has been just amazing," said Cindy Compton. "It was pretty special for him. The jersey Dan Holland gave him is hanging on his curtain rod in his bedroom. He pinned his T-shirt on his bulletin board along with the picture they gave him."

In addition, Isaiah, who has been cancer-free since March, received a special pass to be on the Mansfield sideline whenever he wants, something the team hopes will happen often.

"Not only is he inspirational, he's a good water boy," McCloskey joked.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation also is going to award Isaiah a second wish. Isaiah and his family are heading to Disney World after all, where he won't be standing on the sidelines.