On any given Sunday the past three months, John Ursua awakens with sore feelings.

“The morning after a game is the slowest I move,” said Ursua, who is the University of Hawaii football team’s second-leading receiver. “I struggle to get out of bed on Sundays. I’ve got to go get treatment those days, and take care of my body, because I’m just a little guy.”

The Rainbow Warriors are counting heavily on two thin slotbacks — 5-foot-9, 165-pound Ursua and 5-10, 175-pound Dylan Collie — against Middle Tennessee in Saturday’s Hawaii Bowl. While Ursua has 47 receptions in 12 starts, Collie has been used more in a slot rotation or when the Warriors align in four-receiver sets. On inside-fade routes, Collie had scoring plays of 43 and 31 yards in the regular-season finale against UMass.

Both players have relied on toughness and rigorous offseason training. This is Ursua’s first football season after working for a year, going on a two-year church mission and then redshirting in 2015. Since the season opener, when he dropped three of 11 passes thrown his way, Ursua has improved his catching and patterns.

“I got more comfortable in my route-running and just my capability of what I can do,” Ursua said. “That just helped with my confidence out on the field as I learn the plays and get more comfortable with what my task is out there.”

Ursua also has been able to absorb big hits.

“Some of those hits were harder than they looked,” Ursua said. “We don’t get hit like that (in practices).”

Topping his hit list, Ursua said, “was the Boise State hit. On my little out route, I got boomed. Against Fresno State, for sure, was another big one. Both those hits I was playing it off like I was fine. But I was really hurting really bad. Those were, for sure, the hardest hits I’ve taken all year.”

Collie is completing his second UH season after also serving a two-year church mission. He only had a few weeks between the end of his mission and his UH enrollment in January 2015. Collie admittedly tired during the latter part of the 2015 season.

Last offseason, Collie and safety Damien Packer trained at Tactical Strength, where they worked on core strength and flexibility.

“For them to be able to work with me and show me exactly the way the body should be moving was huge,” Collie said.

Collie said Bubba Reynolds, who was hired as UH’s strength/conditioning coordinator in January, was helpful in correcting his running technique.

“If you watch me run, I’m not the nicest-looking runner,” Collie said. “It’s a difficult thing. It takes a lot of work.”

Collie said the advice and training have kept him relatively healthy while improving his stamina.

“Being with those guys (at Tactical) and being with Bubba throughout the day, it’s hard not to keep that stamina because they know what they’re doing and what they’re talking about,” he said. “They help in just being mentally strong.”