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UNLV (2-1, 0-0 MOUNTAIN WEST)
vs.
HAWAII (1-1, 0-0 WESTERN ATHLETIC)
DATE: Friday, Sept. 19, 2003KICKOFF: 6:00 pm PDTSITE: Sam Boyd Stadium (36,800/Artificial-TurfTech) Las VegasTV: ESPN2 (Tim Ryan, Mike Golic, Rod Gilmore & Alex Flanagan)RADIO: ESPN 920 AM (Tim Neverett, Mitch Roberts & Paige Snyder)
GAME PREVIEW
Fresh from one of the biggest wins in school history, UNLV (2-1) returns to Sam Boyd Stadium this Friday to host former WAC rival Hawaii (1-1) for the first time since 1997 ... The game will be the Rebels' only home appearance in the month of September ... UNLV used nine sacks and five forced turnovers to upset then-No. 14 Wisconsin 23-5 in Madison on Saturday before the biggest crowd (78,043) to ever see the Rebels win a football game ... UH will look to rebound after falling to USC 61-32 in Los Angeles ... The Rebels have two wins after the season's first three games for the first time since 1999 and for only the second time in the last 11 years ... A victory Friday would make UNLV 3-1 for the first time since 1992 ... UNLV does not play in Las Vegas again until Oct. 18 vs. Utah ... This will be only the second meeting between UNLV and a member of the old 16-team Western Athletic Conference since the Rebels left the league after the 1998 season (2000 at UH was the first) ... Current WAC member Nevada, Reno, whom the Rebels play Oct. 4, joined the conference in 2000 ... This marks UNLV's third appearance on national television this season ... UNLV is 2-2 all-time on ESPN2, including last week's victory ... UNLV is 3-1-1 all-time in Friday games, including a season-opening 28-18 triumph over Toledo, which was broadcast by ESPN.
WARRIORS vs. REBELS NOTES
UH leads the all-time series 10-5 but UNLV has won the last two ... In the last meeting, UNLV earned a winning record and an invitation to the Las Vegas Bowl by hanging on for a 34-32 victory in 2000 to break a four-game losing skid at Aloha Stadium ... In that game, Hawaii's Heisman hopeful Timmy Chang was on his way to WAC Freshman of the Year honors and passed for 353 yards and three touchdowns vs. the Rebels ... In the last meeting at Sam Boyd Stadium, the Rebels' broke the Warriors' seven-game winning streak in the series with a 25-15 victory in 1997 ... Among teams in Div. I-A, only UNR is as old a Rebel rival -- both schools first played UNLV in 1969, which was just the second year of the program ... John Robinson is 2-0 all-time vs. UH after also leading USC to a 21-5 win on the Islands on Dec. 2, 1978, en route to winning the national championship ... UNLV currently lists one player who graduated from a Hawaii high school: reserve DL Josh Mareko from Konawaena HS, who walked on after transferring from Southwestern (CA) JC ... One former Rebel appears on the Warrior roster: DL Lui Fuga originally signed with UNLV out of high school but transferred home during 1998 preseason camp ... New Rebel LB Mike Tinoisamoa, who transferred this fall from Palomar JC, is the younger brother of Pisa Tinoisamoa, who was the Warriors' team MVP in 2002 and is now a starter for the NFL's St. Louis Rams.
