LAS VEGAS >> On Friday, the Hawaii football team was at Liberty. Now the Rainbow Warriors are in pursuit of happiness.

“Hopefully, we can get one in the win column and roll from there,” offensive lineman Matt Norman said of this afternoon’s Mountain West game against UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The Warriors, who are 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Mountain West, need to win three of their final four regular-season games to meet the 6-6 minimum for a berth in the Hawaii Bowl. (While 5-7 teams have qualified for bowl berths in the past, that is rare.) Last season, Nick Rolovich’s first as UH head coach, the Warriors won two in a row to qualify.

“The backs can be against the wall trying to build the program back up,” Rolovich said. “We’ve done it once. They remember that.”

The Warriors rebounded from last week’s 28-7 loss to San Diego State in which they were dominated at the line of scrimmage. The Warriors managed 195 yards, the lowest in Rolovich’s 141 games as a Division I coach or quarterback.

This week they reviewed video and had three detail-oriented practices in Manoa. On Friday, they had a walk-through session at Liberty High. Former Warriors Chad Kapanui, Uriah Moenoa and Gregg Tipton attended the workout. Thirteen NFL scouts are in town to analyze UH’s pro prospects. There was a pep rally in downtown Las Vegas on Friday night.

“We appreciate the support,” Rolovich said. “If anything, it should inspire us. Look at how many people are here to watch us play. That’s just another positive in my mind.”

Rolovich said the Warriors should not be distracted during this 31-hour trip.

“We’ve found enough distractions this year,” Rolovich said. “If they really want to do what they talk about doing, I think they should be focused in. I think there’s been a mind-set change in the last few weeks.”

The self-discipline has been reflected in the decreasing number of penalties. In the first six games, the Warriors were penalized an average 9.3 times for 77.2 yards per game. In the past two games, the average is 6.1 penalties for 43.5 yards. The Warriors also reduced their major penalties — personal and unsportsmanlike fouls — from a per-game average of 3.83 in the first six games to 2.0 in the past two games.

“I don’t know if a light came on,” Rolovich said. “It’s just been better.”

UNLV has won the past five meetings in Las Vegas. The Rebels, who are 3-5 and 2-3 in the Mountain West, also must win three of their final four to become bowl eligible.

“The biggest thing we have to understand is we can’t get too down on ourselves,” said defensive tackle Mike Hughes, whose Rebels squandered leads against Air Force and Utah State. “When we do lose these games, it kind of makes you think, ‘We put in all this work, and it didn’t work out.’ That’s one thing we can’t give in to.”

Three years ago at Aloha Stadium, the Warriors won on wideout Marcus Kemp’s touchdown catch as time expired. Last year, the Rebels won on a late field goal.

“I’m expecting a dog fight,” Hughes said.

Of facing a backs-against-the-wall situation, UH quarterback Dru Brown said: “It’s something we’re good at. It would be nice to perform a little better when that’s not the case. That’s something we’ll work on. But I think we play pretty well when the pressure’s on.”