Not immediately sighting the football stadium on the University of Idaho campus the first time the University of Hawai'i played there in 2005, a visitor inquired if it might be located behind "the barn."

No, was the terse response, "that is the (stadium)."

Others, including Fresno State coach Pat Hill, have compared it to an aircraft hangar or a quonset hut on steroids.

But all agree the Associated Students of the University of Idaho-Kibbie Activity Center — better known as the "Kibbie Dome" — where UH will play Saturday is one of the more distinctive home-field settings in college football. And, for the Warriors, who are 12-point underdogs, perhaps the most hostile atmosphere they are likely to encounter this season.

Rising above the Moscow campus, the 35-year-old Kibbie Dome has the smallest listed seating capacity (16,000) among the 120 schools that compete in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) and it is one of two FBS on-campus indoor facilities this season.

Maybe this penchant for uniqueness is an Idaho thing in a state where great pains have been taken to carve out home-field niches, witness Boise State's trademark blue turf and Idaho State's own dome.

Truth be told, the Kibbie Dome doesn't really look much like a dome thanks to a barreled roof that is more square than round. All of which give the place a deceptively quaint and disarming appearance until you step indoors where the decibels and heat can rise.

The better, Idaho folks say, to amplify the sound when there is a large crowd. And UI officials say they expect a sellout crowd — or close to it — for Saturday's game in which the Vandals (5-1) can reach bowl eligibility with a victory.

For a program that hasn't had a winning season since 1999, the Vandals have been a remarkable 111-59-1 at home. Well, maybe not all that remarkable under the circumstances. "People are passionate about Vandal football and it gets very loud," said UH assistant coach Chris Tormey, who played at UI and coached the Vandals to their last winning season (1999).

He compares it to playing in a "basketball arena," which is what the Kibbie Dome — known as the Cowan Spectrum for hoops — doubles as in addition to being a home for track and tennis. "The fans are right on top of you; you can see their faces," Tormey said. "It gets very up close and personal."

The combination of the noise, a low (150-foot height) roof and practically reach-out-and-touch end-zone walls, so close that the goal posts are bolted to them rather than dug into the ground, can make for a disorienting experience.

Quarterback Colt Brennan tied a UH record with five interceptions in the Warriors' 2007 visit, prompting Vandal fans to tell the Heisman candidate he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.