For 35 years, George Lumpkin has been a member of the University of Hawai'i football team.

He played two seasons as a defensive back, then served 33 of the next 36 years as every sort of coach on defense.

He has watched players, coaches, mascots and nicknames come and go.

Now, at last, he is preparing for the Warriors' first winner-take-all game.

"It's outstanding," Lumpkin said of Friday's nationally televised game against Boise State. Both teams are 7-0 in Western Athletic Conference games.

"This is great, especially for the kids," Lumpkin said. "They've worked so hard. They worked hard in the summer when nobody was making them. And they've played hard."

Defensive secondary coach Rich Miano, who was an All-WAC safety in the 1980s before playing 11 seasons in the NFL, said: "I would think this would be the biggest regular-season game in the history of the program. It's for the undisputed WAC championship."

The Warriors shared the title in 1992 and 1999, but have never won a championship outright.

Miano said this series is nearing the intensity of a past rivalry against another blue-clad opponent.

"For us coaches, players and fans, Boise is the BYU of the '80s," Miano said.

Quarterback Colt Brennan, who has recovered from a concussion and will start, said the game is a culmination of three years of hard work. The core of the team — Brennan, slotbacks Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins, linebackers Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian — were first-year Warriors during the 5-7 season in 2005.

"Just to think about where we were our first year, what we've come to now, to be sitting here at 10-0, I mean, it's been a journey," Brennan said. "Now it's time to have fun and play this football game, which is probably the most anticipated football game for us all season. I mean, you can't even sleep. You can't even get through the day right now. It's that exciting."

Elimimian likened the game to a championship bout. Boise State has won five WAC regular-season titles in a row. Since joining the WAC in 2001, the Broncos have won 52 of 55 league games, and six in a row over the Warriors.

"You have to give respect where respect is due," Elimimian said. "They're the champs, and we want the title. They're a great team. We're going to have to battle them. May the best team win on Friday."

The teams are entering with different approaches. The Broncos, as they have done all season, are limiting access to Boise writers. Hawai'i media will not be granted interviews with Bronco players.

The Warriors' practice yesterday was open to the public. About a dozen fans waited for Brennan to sign autographs.

Told of Boise's look-over-both-shoulders policy, UH coach June Jones smiled and said, "Hope you (reporters) appreciate what you have over here."

As for Friday's game, Jones said: "Make it what you want. For us, it's the next game. Next week's game will be big, too, just like last week's game was big. All of them are that way."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.