In comparison, UNLV brought 72 players. The Mountain West Conference, of which the Rebels are members, does not limit travel rosters for inter-league games. In MWC games, the visiting team is limited to 64 players.

"The defense did a really good job," UH coach June Jones said.

The Warriors remain optimistic, despite injuries to several important defenders.

Inside linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who makes the defensive calls, will not play because of a sprained right knee. Brad Kalilimoku, who was a strong safety from spring practice through last week, is Elimimian's replacement.

Free safety Leonard Peters, who has a broken rib cartilage, has vowed to play. He said the injury is painful, especially when the jagged cartilage hits against the inside of his skin. He will wear thick padding tonight.

Nose tackle Michael Lafaele also is ailing. He has suffered from a sore left heel for nearly a month. He is expected to start tonight.

Running back Nate Ilaoa has recovered from a concussion, and his backup, Reagan Mauia, said he no longer experiences pain in his thumbs, which were sprained against Alabama.

"We have a lot of hurts, here and there, but except for Solomon, I anticipate everybody will play," Jones said.

UNLV quarterback Rocky Hinds also is expected to play, despite leaving last week's game in the second quarter because of a sprained right knee. Hinds, who transferred from USC in 2005, practiced the past two days.

Each team has prepared differently for this meeting, the first in a six-game series spanning the next seven years.

With a bye last weekend, the Warriors took three days off before resuming practice Monday morning.

They did not practice yesterday morning, but had a light workout yesterday afternoon before departing for the Waikiki hotel.

The Warriors, like most NCAA Division I-A teams, spend the night before a home game in a hotel. Only the players with defined roles are invited to the hotel.

As a reward, certain scout players also are invited. Malcolm Lane, a wideout who is expected to redshirt this season, received an invitation after accurately portraying UNLV's Hinds during defensive drills this week.

The rest of the team will meet at UH this afternoon for the bus ride to Aloha Stadium.

In a role reversal, the Warriors spent the night in an area the Rebels made sure to avoid.

The Rebels are staying on the North Shore, head coach Mike Sanford said, "because I think Waikiki is more distracting than over there on that side."

Sanford was an assistant coach on two teams — Long Beach State and Notre Dame — that played in Hawai'i.

"The key thing about going over there is keeping focused on what you're there for," Sanford said. "I think a lot of times what happens when you go to a place like Hawai'i to play football, you start looking at all of the other things that are going on over there, and you get wrapped up in all of that, in kind of a vacation mode, and it's very distracting."

The Rebels, who lost to Iowa State last weekend, practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas. They had a closed workout Thursday afternoon at Aloha Stadium, then ate dinner and attended a show at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

The players were given free time yesterday morning, although they were prohibited from swimming in the ocean.

"We heard that New Mexico State, when they went over there, they almost lost a guy," Sanford said. "A guy drifted out to sea and almost disappeared."

The Rebels had a team meeting yesterday afternoon, then had a walk-through practice on a golf course.

"I think the main issue is the distraction and the feeling you get over there, and just the mentality of Hawai'i," Sanford said. "It's hard to concentrate."

UH defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis said he encourages the Rebels to enjoy themselves.

"For us, this is an important game," Alama-Francis said. "We want to play well in front of our home crowd."

FERGUSON HAS SURGERY

UH slotback Jason Ferguson will not be able to play for another six to seven weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles.

During the season-opening kickoff last year, Ferguson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee and a broken right femur. He underwent reconstructive surgery — his second on the right knee in the past three years — and missed the 2005 season.

Ferguson recently complained of soreness in his right knee. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed excess scar tissue.

Ferguson went to Los Angeles Tuesday, and underwent the 45-minute arthroscopic surgery the next day.

"I went back to the bat cave to get my equipment fixed," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said he was told he would not be able to resume running until up to seven weeks.

"Honestly, I'm not really being too optimistic about this season," he said. "We'll see. If in six or seven weeks I'm feeling good, it'll be game 8 or 9. There still would be time to play. I'm going to hope for the best and see what happens."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.