Arrington transferred to University of California, Berkeley as a junior, and played for the California Golden Bears football team in 2003 and 2004. Arrington would receive few carries for most of the 2003 season aside from his 114-yard performance against Southern Mississippi. A knee injury to then starting running back Adimchinobi Echemandu would thrust Arrington into the starting role against the Washington Huskies. This proved to be his breakout game as he mauled the Huskies defense for 185 yards and a touchdown. It took him only 14 carries to achieve this feat. In the first half managed to tally 157 yards on ten carries. He also caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers giving him a total of 215 yards on the day.