FRESNO, Calif. » An animated Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter, seemingly more pumped up by the second, talked in rising decibels at his Monday press conference about the joyous union of Thanksgiving and football this week.

So much so you’d have thought he had been promised a drumstick as big as the silver Lexus courtesy car in the "head coach only" parking spot out back.

But, then, few college football coaches in America with losing records entering their final game of the regular season have as much to be thankful for this week as DeRuyter.

Excepting, perhaps, Hawaii’s Norm Chow.

Here they are, Fresno at 5-6 (4-3 Mountain West) and Hawaii at 4-8 (3-4), each with an opportunity — at varying odds — to still claim a conference division championship.

Just three games ago UH was mired in a four-game losing streak and Fresno was in the midst of a three-game tailspin. And the natives were restless.

But here they are, now, a mere 60 minutes away Saturday from a prospect of a divisional, but no longer wholly delusional, title and all that might come with it.

Thanksgiving, indeed.

Yes, thankful to be in the Mountain West. Thankful especially to be in the West Division. And, though it has been largely left unsaid, thankful to be playing each other.

If you recall how dark it appeared for UH when the Rainbow Warriors were 2-8, picture the torment in the home of the defending Mountain West champions, who were 3-6 coming off losses to Boise State and (wince) Wyoming and (double wince) Nevada-Las Vegas.

"Most seasons you have some bumps in the road that you didn’t expect, but not to the extent that we’ve had," DeRuyter acknowledged.

Bulldogs fans knew there would be a step back when Derek Carr and Davante Adams moved on to the NFL, of course. But nobody thought it would be a full-on face plant in the artificial turf.

This is what we get for $1.4 million, the offseason doubling of DeRuyter’s salary, they wondered? Is this what we have to look forward to in year three with the departure of Pat Hill’s best players, some were asking?

So the ending of the musical quarterbacks and emergence of a defense that resulted in a 38-24 thumping of San Jose State and 40-20 ripping of Nevada couldn’t have been more timely. Especially with a new athletic director coming on board.

Nor could have the ups and downs of a six-team division, where there exists the possibility of a four-way tie, been more fortuitous.

The Bulldogs, like the Rainbow Warriors, have been blessed with not just a second but third and fourth chances the likes of which neither head coach may see again. And they are determined to make the most of it.

Which is why DeRuyter is pulling out all the stops and beseeching the ‘Red Wave," as the San Joaquin Valley faithful are known, to put down their leftovers and "pack Bulldog Stadium" in numbers and decibels too loud to ignore.

"We know that it is going to be a battle," DeRuyter said issuing a "calling all ‘Dogs" exhortation.

"We expect nothing different and that’s why we are hoping to have a great crowd, have the ‘Red Wave’ behind us ’cause our guys play at a different level when they are playing in front of the ‘Red Wave.’ "

It was why he quickly gave assent to the players’ wish to pull out the all-black uniforms on senior day and anything else that might help tip the scales.

"Thanksgiving and football go together," DeRuyter said.

Especially for these two teams this year.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com.