Hawaii running back Joey Iosefa, who had been held out of the first three football practices this week with an ankle injury, was back on the field on Thursday.

Iosefa is expected to play in Saturday’s game against Nevada at Aloha Stadium.

“He looked good,” head coach Norm Chow said.

Iosefa, a third-year sophomore, can play both tailback and fullback. He leads the Warriors with 25 carries (for 87 yards) and is second with seven receptions.

Chow said John Lister, who has emerged as the Warriors’ most efficient blocking back, Will Gregory and Sterling Jackson will rotate in the backfield.

Jeremiah Ostrowski, a co-captain, has been practicing as the strong-side receiver. Ostrowski leads the Warriors with 10 catches, but as a slotback in last week’s game against Lamar, he was in for 10 of the Warriors’ 71 offensive plays. Chow said using Ostrowski as a wideout should increase his reps.

UH expecting Saturday’s crowd to top 30,000

As of Thursday afternoon, there were about 27,600 tickets issued for the Nevada game, according to a school spokesman.

That figure does not include students, who gain admission through a student-activity fee.

With walk-up sales, the crowd is expected to exceed 30,000, the spokesman said.

Hong serves as honorary captain

In 1961, UH did not field an intercollegiate football team. A year later, the program was revived.

Bill “Buzzy” Hong, a defensive tackle, was attending a school on the mainland when he learned of the program’s resurrection. Hong said his father gave him one condition to attending UH: Get a job.

“The only job I could get at the time was in the police department,” Hong said.

He attended school, worked full-time and played for the Rainbows.

“I had some very accommodating supervisors in the police department,” Hong said.

He said he once used a lunch break to play in a game. Summoned back to work, he showered at halftime and rode his motorcycle back to the station.

“And there were some not-so-accommodating supervisors,” he added.

Hong was named an honorary UH captain for Saturday’s game.

He addressed the Warriors at the end of Thursday’s practice, then presented his old Rainbow jersey to Chow. The jersey had been stored at his daughter’s house. But after learning of the captain’s invitation, she decided to make the donation.

“I love this green,” Chow said of the bright-colored jersey. “It’s a part of our history.”

Wolf Pack arrive, hole up at Turtle Bay

Nevada’s football team arrived in Hawaii on Thursday.

The Wolf Pack will be staying at Turtle Bay, where the walk-through practice also will be conducted.

As part of the arrangement for joining the Mountain West Conference, the Warriors paid for the Wolf Pack’s charter flight to Hawaii.