Entering the Hawai'i football team's training camp two weeks ago, there was a three-way battle for the starting left tackle's job.

Yesterday, all three original candidates — Aaron Kia, Laupepa Letuli and Ray Hisatake — were in the first-team lineup at the same time.

Letuli was at left tackle, Kia moved to right tackle as a fill-in for Keoni Steinhoff (tweaked ankle), and Hisatake remained at right guard.

Hisatake is the temp who keeps coming to work. He moved to left guard after the first practice of training camp, then was assigned to right guard when Clarence "Lafu" Tuioti-Mariner suffered an injury. Tuioti-Mariner is back, but Hisatake has not budged.

"Lafu has to earn it back," offensive line coach Brian Smith said. "He had his own setback. If he really wants that No. 1 spot, he has to earn it back and take it from Ray. Ray is the one with the first group."

Hisatake said: "Maybe he's just trying to save (Tuioti-Mariner). Or maybe I'm really the starting right guard."

Hisatake has made a somewhat smooth transition to the position despite having little preparation time. He was a defensive tackle at College of San Mateo before being shifted to offensive tackle when he joined the Warriors during the spring of 2007. He had never played on offense before.

"The whole entire year, I was learning to play tackle," Hisatake said. "They kind of threw me into the fire at guard. At first, it was tough because guard is a whole other position."

The key, he said, is to be patient and trust his blocking technique. He also had to adjust his block reads, going from inside to outside.

"He needs a lot of reps, but he's getting better every day," Smith said. "He's coming along."

Smith received some tips from Kia, who has bounced from tackle to guard to center to guard and back to tackle. Kia was on the move again yesterday, filling in at right tackle.

Smith said that was a temporary move, and that Kia and Letuli are locked in a heated battle at left tackle.

"Both of them aren't leaving the position anytime soon," Smith said.

Letuli has focused on staying healthy. He missed spring practice because of a hamstring injury. Kia has focused on his own development.

"I don't want to worry about this battle," Kia said. "If I do, I'm going to mess up. I want to focus on myself and what I want to get done and what I need to work on every day."

Smith said he hopes for a resolution by the end of this week.

"In the next few days, we'll have a set offensive line," Smith said. "Hopefully, we'll also be healthy. We still have a couple of guys dinged up, and that's delaying it."