LOGAN, UTAH >>

It will be another must-win game when the Hawaii and Utah State football teams meet today at Maverik Stadium.

But this time the urgency will be with Utah State, which can clinch bowl eligibility with a victory in this crossover Mountain West game. The Aggies, picked to finish last in the Mountain Division, are 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Mountain West.

“We’ve got to win,” USU wideout Braelon Roberts said. “We have to. It’s the last (home) game of the season. It’s senior night, as well.”

The Aggies are in position to be bowl eligible for the sixth time in the past seven years because of a reconstructed offense, a ball-hawking defense (24 takeaways) and specialists who can score (kicker Dominik Eberle has converted a nation’s best 15 of 16 field-goal attempts) and intimidate (four blocked punts). Jordan Love, a second-year freshman quarterback, will make his fourth consecutive start. In the past five years, the Aggies are 13-3 when a freshman starts at quarterback.

“They’ve done a good job,” UH coach Nick Rolovich said of the Aggies. “They’ve been competitive. It won’t be easy. Nothing’s been easy this year. I don’t know why we’d think something would be easier right now.”

The Rainbow Warriors are likely eliminated from postseason consideration after losing seven of the past eight games to drop to 3-7 overall and 1-6 in the Mountain West. They conclude the regular season with next week’s game against Brigham Young.

“If you love football, you love playing the game, you love practice, you love being together,” Rolovich said. “That’s what you wake up every morning wanting to do. I haven’t seen a lack of that from our guys. There’s a realization we’re not going to a bowl game. But they still like each other. They still want to play a couple of games for the seniors and try to get a couple wins.”

The Warriors, who arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday morning, practiced Friday at nearby East High. They were greeted with snow flurries. The rest of the one-hour practice was conducted under a chilly downpour in 36-degree temperatures.

“Nothing will change a local boy’s opinion of first-seen snow (than) when it turns into cold rain,” Rolovich said, smiling.

After the practice, they returned to the hotel to prepare for the 90-mile drive to Logan, Utah. In the hotel lobby, wideout Kalakaua Timoteo beamed when he saw the wood burning in the fireplace. Friday was the first time the Mililani-raised Timoteo saw snow flurries or a fireplace.

Rolovich declared the Warriors enthusiastic about the game.

“We only get 12 (games) guaranteed,” Rolovich said. “That’s it. They put in a lot of work. They don’t do it just to do it. They do it for the opportunity to win a football game.”

Quarterback Dru Brown said: “Anytime you have a football game and you get to suit up, you should take pride in that. Obviously, the bowl hopes are gone. But you only get so many (games) a year. And you put so much time into it. We can’t fold our tent right now. We have to keep going and savor every game we get.”

Brown anticipates chilly conditions. The temperature is expected to be 41 degrees at kickoff. “When we’re out there, we lose sight of the weather and just play ball,” Brown said. “We just want to play ball and have fun.”