SAN JOSE, Calif. — Appropriately, perhaps, in this 100th anniversary of the first season of University of Hawai'i football, the Warriors' path to the postseason comes booby-trapped by history.

Today at Spartan Stadium the Warriors have to get past 71-year-old Dick Tomey, who ushered UH into its era of Western Athletic Conference football 30 years ago but now coaches WAC rival San Jose State.

And, that's just the beginning . Should they get through the Spartans in today's 3 p.m. (Hawai'i time) game, Navy and its coach, former UH quarterback and assistant coach Ken Niumatalolo, await a chance to bushwhack the Warriors' bowl hopes next week at Aloha Stadium.

All this — and No. 17 Wisconsin, too — to get to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl on Dec. 24 where, more than likely, former UH head coach and quarterback June Jones will be waiting with his resurgent Southern Methodist team.

Everywhere, it seems, are reminders of the Warriors' history. Not to mention the chance to make more of it if they can lock up what would be a record fourth consecutive bowl.

It is the third week in a row of the win-or-else bowl sweepstakes for the 4-6 (2-5 WAC) Warriors, who must take all three remaining games to finish with a winning record and be bowl eligible.

No small task but at least, at 1-8 (0-5 WAC), the Spartans are by far the least daunting of the remaining opponents. In fact, the Warriors are three-point favorites on the Las Vegas betting line, a road game rarity these days.

The best part is that, to date, the Spartans have not looked like what we have come to recognize as a Tomey-coached team.

In a decade at UH and beyond to Arizona, Tomey's teams were characteristically good at running the ball and tenacious against the ground game as well as solid on special teams. These Spartans have been none of the above.

This year, largely because of NCAA-based APR scholarship limitations and injuries, depth has been thinned and the Spartans have been even more vulnerable to opposing ground games than the Warriors (ranking 120th) while generating less of a rushing attack than the Warriors. UH, even with its pass-first credo, averages 112.1 yards per game. San Jose State manages just 71.6.

The Spartans lag, too, in kickoff returns and punt returns.

The Warriors have their work cut out for them these last three regular-season games, but the reward that awaits them would be worth it.