PULLMAN, WASH. >> It’s Washington State’s homecoming weekend, and the town of Pullman is brightened with crimson-and-gray enthusiasm.

With the extended hours, the line to Ferdinand’s — WSU’s creamery — snakes onto Ferdinand Way, where alumni are waiting to place orders for tins of Cougar Gold cheese or scoops of pumpkin ice cream.

The area hotels and motels have been sold out for months.

“It’s exciting to be back playing in Gesa Field,” said WSU linebacker Kyle Thornton, whose Cougars play host to Hawaii today in their first home game since Sept. 20. “The crowd will be electric. The fans love it. We love it. It’s a big deal.”

At the heart of the game is two teams on polar paths. In their first season in the two-team Pac-12, the Cougars are 5-1 — a victory from becoming bowl eligible. They have healed from losing quarterback Cam Ward and his Heisman Trophy candidacy to Miami.

The Warriors are 0-2 this year and 1-13 overall in road games under third-year coach Timmy Chang. Despite leading the Mountain West in scoring defense (20.5 points per game) and total defense (332.8 yards a contest), the Warriors have committed too many penalties (52 of 54 were accepted), relinquished too many sacks (3.5 per game), and not made enough timely plays. At 2-4, the Warriors have only defeated FCS members Delaware State and Northern Iowa.

“It’s a good opponent,” Chang said of the Cougars, who have won three games by a margin of eight points or fewer. “They’re finding ways to win the close games. We’re a team that’s not winning our close games.”

In last week’s loss to Boise State, the Warriors were without injured cornerback Caleb Brown and wideout Dekel Crowdus. Safety Peter Manuma and slotback Pofele Ashlock exited with ailments during the game.

“It’s week seven for us,” Chang said. “Guys are banged up. It’s part of football. The mentality is ‘next guy up.’”

There are other side stories to this game. After 10 schools seceded, leaving Washington State and Oregon State as Pac-12 holdovers, the Mountain West agreed to a deal that would provide games for both schools this season. But last month, five schools announced they would leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12 in 2026. That prompted UH, which had been a football-only affiliate, to agree to move 15 of its other sports to the Mountain West. This is the Warriors’ third game in a row against a 2026 member of the Pac-12.

At the end of the 2019 season, Nick Rolovich resigned as UH head coach to accept the head coaching job at WSU. Several UH assistant coaches joined Rolovich in the move. On Oct. 20, 2021, Rolovich and four WSU assistant coaches were dismissed after declining to comply with a Washington state mandate to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“He was a guy who genuinely cared about his players when he was here,” Thornton said of Rolovich. “There was a lot of stuff the media sunk their teeth into. But within the team, he did really care about the guys, and that was lost a little bit (in the coverage). He cared about the guys in the building. The guys felt that love, and reciprocated it back to him.”

Two former UH coaches — Dan Morrison and Dennis McKnight — were brought in to help coach the final five games of the 2021 season. Morrison, who is back at UH as quarterbacks coach, said he had an enjoyable time at WSU.

Football video coordinator Olivia Vea, who also moved to WSU in 2019, is the only member with Hawaii ties to Rolovich’s staff still working with the Cougars.

Mark Atuaia, a record-setting running back at Kahuku High who went to play at BYU, is WSU’s running backs coach. “I still have the scars on my body to prove I played on that hard clay,” Atuaia said of Kahuku’s old field. “Right now they have a nice field from the NFL. But back in my day, man, when it rained and then it dried, it was like playing on clay. It was bad. You get all buss up.”

After pursuing a musical career following his playing days, Atuaia went back to BYU, where he earned a law degree. “I finally figured out the silver bullet for me was education,” he said.

He had several job offers from law firms in Honolulu when a position in the BYU athletic department led to a career in coaching. He uses his background as encouragement for his players.

“I emphasize education,” Atuaia said. “That’s the one thing I can teach them that is more than what I can teach them on a football field. There is a life after football. The best way to get a good job and take care of their families is by having a degree.”