Most of the players on the Southern Methodist University football team didn't know "Mele Kalikimaka" from "Waimänalo Blues," but it hardly mattered Saturday in Dallas.

All the plastic lei-bedecked players knew as a recording of "Mele Kalikimaka" was piped through the Ford Stadium public address system immediately at the conclusion of their 35-31 victory over Texas-El Paso was that it was, well, — in the words of one — "Hawaiian music" and they had just taken a big step toward spending Christmas Eve at the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

For players who had endured a 1-11 season last year and a program that hasn't been to a bowl since 1984, that was enough to touch off an on-field celebration of their bowl eligibility-earning sixth victory against four losses.

The "Mele Kalikimaka" touch was provided by head coach June Jones and film coordinator Lopaka Ornellas, who had held those same positions at the University of Hawai'i until 2008.

The plastic lei?

"I have no idea where those came from," Jones said.

It was suggested the Hawai'i Bowl might have had a hand. "Not us," said David Matlin, the bowl's executive director, said firmly but enviously. "I wish we had thought of it."

But Matlin said the scene was enough to prompt calls to the bowl about tickets and accommodations packages from SMU "booster-type" organizations, fans and media.

The bowl and UH fans now wait to see if the "dream" matchup of Jones' teams, past and present — UH vs. SMU — will come to pass in the Dec. 24 game at Aloha Stadium.

If it does, Matlin said, "I won't need a Christmas present."

The homegrown Warriors (4-6), for whom Jones won more games (76-41) than any other head coach, must win their three remaining games, beginning with Saturday's at San Jose State, to be the Western Athletic Conference representative to the game.

It will be a familiar, though not necessarily friendly, gauntlet.

San Jose State (1-8) is coached by Dick Tomey, who had been UH's winningest coach (63-46-3) until surpassed by Jones. The penultimate game will be against Navy (8-3), whose head coach, Ken Niumatalolo, was a quarterback (1987-89) and assistant coach (1992-94) at UH.

They and 17th-ranked Wisconsin (8-2) stand in the way of the Warriors being bowl eligible and what Matlin terms, "a shot at the biggest attendance in Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl history."

Though the Mustangs, with two regular season games remaining, are bowl-eligible, they are not yet guaranteed a bowl berth yet since a seven-win team could trump them at six if there are not enough openings to go around. Another possibility is that, should SMU win the C-USA title, the Mustangs could end up in the Memphis-based Liberty Bowl.

But the likelihood, especially if the Mustangs beat either Marshall (3-3) or Tulane (1-5), is that they come here to get a lot more acquainted with the strains of "Mele Kalikimaka."