"It's not the trip. It's not the environment. It's not the beach and all that," he said. "Our guys have seen beaches. It's the team that we are playing. That's the problem."

The Spartans (6-3, 3-2 Western Athletic Conference), coming off a tough 3-point loss to undefeated Boise State, have another big test Saturday when they face the surging Warriors (8-2, 6-1). Hawaii is 5-0 at home this season and seeking its eighth straight victory.

"I think this may be the best team they've had in a long, long time," Tomey said. "They're playing great."

The Hawaii Bowl-bound Warriors are ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense (542.4 yards a game), passing (436.7) and scoring (48.7).

Hawaii has outscored its opponents 192-37 in the past three games and posted at least 60 points in four of the last five games.

"Their offense is just a machine and the defense is much better than a year ago," Tomey said.

Tomey, who has resurrected the Spartans' program in just his second season, is the second winningest coach in Hawaii history with 63 victories. He coached Hawaii from 1977-86 when the team was known as the Rainbow Warriors. Tomey also spent two years as a TV color commentator at Hawaii games.

In 1983, Tomey hired a former NFL quarterback with no coaching experience as his quarterbacks coach. June Jones is now Hawaii's head coach and needs two wins to tie Tomey for wins at Hawaii.

"This one should be pretty emotional because Dick is coming back," Jones said.

Tomey first returned to Aloha Stadium in 1998, leading Arizona to a 27-6 victory over Hawaii.

This is the final WAC game for the Warriors. They need a victory and Boise State to lose one of its final two conference games for a share the WAC title.

The Spartans are seeking their first seven-win season since 2000 and are trying to establish themselves as a one of the better WAC teams after several dismal seasons.

Hawaii is guided by the hot arm of quarterback Colt Brennan, who leads the nation in total offense, passing efficiency and completion percentage. He is the cousin of Spartans' receivers coach Brent Brennan.

"Colt Brennan is playing the best I've ever seen a Hawaii quarterback play," Tomey said.

The junior has thrown for 3,753 yards and 43 touchdowns, which is just 11 shy of tying the NCAA season mark of 54 held by Houston's David Klingler in 1990.

"We have a tough team coming in this week and we have a great chance to make a statement because we've been kind of playing the weaker-caliber teams in our conference the last couple weeks," Brennan said. "It's nice now to play a team that's on the rise. To get a victory would be huge for us."

The Warriors have multiple receivers who could break the game open, including Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullins, Ian Sample and Ross Dickerson.

They also have 255-pound running back Nate Ilaoa. The bruising Ilaoa, who is expected to return this week from a sprained ankle, has 586 yards rushing and 596 yards receiving. He leads the team with 13 TDs.

Jones said his team's offensive success starts with the offensive line.

"We kind of know, by the way we do things, that we're going to have someone open," he said. "It's just a matter of having the time to find him."

San Jose State's pass defense is ranked second in the WAC, allowing just 185.3 yards a game. The defense is led by linebacker Matt Castelo, who leads the country with 13.3 tackles a game.

Spartans cornerback Dwight Lowery has eight interceptions in nine games, but Tomey doesn't expect Hawaii to avoid throwing in his direction.

"June's not going to let anybody dictate what they do," he said.

Spartans running back Yonus Davis should find some running room against Hawaii's aggressive defense.

Davis averages 7.18 yards a carry and is ranked 16th nationally with 912 rushing yards, which is the most by a Spartan since Deonce Whitaker rushed for 1,577 yards in 2000.