The Warriors made his wish come true last night by pounding Fresno State, 55-28, in a Western Athletic Conference game at Aloha Stadium.

Chang, a junior from Saint Louis School, helped himself by completing 40 of 60 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns.

"My birthday is during the season, there's no celebration to it," Chang said. "I just got ready for the game. The sacrifices that I make for my birthday are well worth the win."

Most important, Chang rebounded from a zero-touchdown performance in a 27-16 loss at Tulsa the previous week, and vaulted Hawai'i (3-3, 2-1) into third place behind WAC leaders Boise State (5-1, 2-0) and Nevada (3-2, 2-0).

The victory also moved Hawai'i within four wins of qualifying for the Hawai'i Bowl on Christmas Day. Hawai'i has seven games remaining.

"If we lose this game our road to the WAC title is close to being done," Hawai'i receiver Chad Owens said. "By us winning this game, it gives the whole team confidence. It was a must-win situation for us and we went out there and we did it."

Chang's performance did not surprise Fresno State coach Pat Hill, whose team faced Colorado State's Bradlee Van Pelt last week.

"I think he was very hot tonight," Hill said. "Two straight weeks we've ran into real good pitchers. Van Pelt last week and Timmy this week. He did a heck of a job. Most of his passes were right on; caught guys in stride. My hat's off to him."

In the first half, Chang tossed touchdown passes to Gerald Welch, Owens, Britton Komine and Michael Brewster. His 9-yard scoring strike to Owens in the second quarter gave Hawai'i a 17-14 lead with 9:56 left.

Chang struck again following a 16-yard rushing touchdown by West Keliikipi and a fumble by Fresno State that was recovered by Hawai'i on the Bulldogs' 16-yard line.

Chang hit Welch for a 13-yard gain on first down, and found Komine for a 3-yard touchdown, giving Hawai'i a 31-14 lead with 2:38 left.

Chang capped the second quarter scoring with a 1-yard touchdown to Brewster for a 38-14 lead with 21 seconds remaining.

In the third quarter, Chang connected with Owens for the second time, this time on a 5-yard touchdown for a 45-14 lead with 9:08 remaining.

"I think he stepped up real good tonight, he really wanted to play well tonight," Hawai'i quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said. "I think he came out in the first half and established himself. We look forward to see it continue."

Owens gushed about Chang's performance.

"He was big," Owens said. "But it wasn't just him. The (offensive) line did a great job which gave him time to get the ball off. It was great running by the running backs that opened up the pass for us. Timmy did a good job of getting the ball on us."