Even before University of Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan went down in a chilling heap on the Aloha Stadium turf Saturday night, it was hard to have good feelings about this week's game at the University of Nevada.

From the time the schedule was finalized in June, Friday's national cable game at Mackay Stadium has loomed as the trap door in the 12-game regular season. Boise State stood out as the best team on the schedule, Washington as the biggest name and Louisiana Tech as the longest trip, but Nevada, where UH has yet to win a Western Athletic Conference football game, posed a bushel of challenges.

If there was one game you could point to with the potential for a convergence of bad juju, this was it. Now that it has arrived, Brennan's uncertain status makes it all that much more ominous for the team that heads to Reno with a share of the nation's longest winning streak.

It isn't just the Wolf Pack but the circumstances surrounding the game in so many areas. Timing, weather, altitude, opponent, you name it and they all line up formidably as the Warriors go for a record eighth consecutive road game victory and 11th win in a row over two seasons.

Indeed, this penultimate WAC game of the season for UH nestles smack dab between its two biggest conference rivals, a potential letdown waiting to ensnare the Warriors, should they let it. All in a short week yet. Getting up for Fresno State or Boise State is no problem. But sandwich Nevada in between demands an unwavering, three-week level of intensity and focus that have wandered at times this season.

More so because Nevada, at 5-4 with three games remaining, will surely have its focus, needing the victory to become bowl eligible for a third consecutive season. The Wolf Pack, after a 2-3 start, is finding its stride having won three games in a row. It would already be there if not for a 69-67 quadruple overtime loss at Boise State and a 49-41 defeat at Fresno.

Throw in the altitude (4,546 feet) and weather (the National Weather Service in Reno forecasts a kickoff temperature of about 45 degrees) and you have the elements to make this interesting.

But, then, they don't just hand out Bowl Championship Series berths and the multi-million dollar checks that come with them. You don't find WAC Championships in a box of crackers. If you are chasing the goodies the Warriors are they do not come without challenges and proving your ability to surmount them. This is what it's all about.

The depth of the challenges the Warriors face this week should serve as the biggest reminder yet of the value of the prizes within reach if they sidestep the huge trap door awaiting them.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.