"It was like, 'I can't believe we're losing like this (10-6) this late in the game,' " Owens said. "I was thinking, 'Somebody's got to make a big play for us pretty soon,' and I decided I was going to be that guy."

And, suddenly, the player the Warriors call their "Mighty Mouse" became "that guy."

The 5-foot-9, 174 pound junior gathering in a short pass from quarterback Tim Chang, broke four tackles and took it a career-high 62 yards to the San Jose 16 yard line to set the stage for West Keli'ikipi's 15-yard shovel pass from Chang and the Warriors' go-ahead score in a 13-10 victory over the Spartans.

Owens had a game-high nine receptions for 149 yards, but the one on third down and four in the final five minutes of the third quarter spoke the most eloquently.

"Chad Owens took over the game when we needed it," said June Jones, the UH coach. "At that point we needed for someone to step up and make a big play and he got it done for us. That one was big time."

"That was an example of just great effort," Chang said. "He made a lot of guys miss and he got us all fired up again."

Owens said, "Timmy put the ball where I could run with it and our blockers gave me some room to run. After I got it and started picking up yards, I was telling myself, 'go, go, go. . . we need this one."

Right slotback Gerald Welch, who threw one of the blocks, said, "We'd been stopped all day and we needed to make something happen out there and Chad did. What he did, taking it down there like that, really gave us a lift."

Owens said the play was "for me and one of the wide receivers to go out and (cross), and if the linebacker took him, then Timmy could hit me on the run — and Timmy did, then it just all opened up."

Owens said, "I like to feel like I can make a big play whenever I get the rock, but that time we really needed it."

• Injuries: Offensive guard Samson Satele suffered a sprained left knee and receiver Britton Komine re-aggravated a calf injury.

Both will be re-evaluated but are not expected to miss UH's next game, Nov. 15th at Nevada, a school spokesman said.

• TV time: Television station KFVE (Ch. 5) said UH is 5-0 this year when appearing on its station.

• Visitors from the past: Former UH head coach Dick Tomey (1977-'86), ex-KGMB and ESPN sportscaster Larry Beil and former UH receiver Larry Khan-Smith (1987-90) were among those hooking up with the team in San Jose this weekend.

Tomey is an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers while Beil is a Bay Area sportscaster and Khan-Smith is in the FBI.

• Parry appearance: Neil Parry, a safety and special teams performer who had his right leg amputated 18 centimeters below the knee on Oct. 23, 2000 and returned to play this year, appeared in the fourth quarter of the game.

• Chilly: Temperature at yesterday's 12:07 (Pacific Time) kickoff was 57 degrees, the coldest for a UH appearance since a 2001 game at SMU.