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FACTS & STATS: Site: Spartan Stadium (30,456) -- San Jose, California. Television: ESPN. Home Record: Hawaii 2-0, SJSU 1-1. Away Record: Hawaii 1-2, SJSU 1-3. Neutral Record: Hawaii 0-0, SJSU 0-0. Conference Record: Hawaii 1-0, SJSU 1-1. Series Record: Hawaii leads, 17-16-1.

GAME NOTES: Heading back to the mainland for the fourth time this season, the Hawaii Warriors try to run their win streak to three in a row on Friday night as they tangle with the San Jose State Spartans in Western Athletic Conference action at Spartan Stadium.

Hawaii, which figured to be a major player in the chase for the WAC title this season, lost back-to-back games early on versus Washington and UNLV, but since then the team has turned the corner with consecutive victories. Granted, the 56-14 win over UC Davis was probably expected, but a week later on October 1 the Warriors opened league play with a 44-26 triumph over Louisiana Tech in Ruston.

As for the Spartans, they were shooting for back-to-back non-conference road wins for the first time in nearly three decades last Saturday, but the squad came up short in a 29-16 loss to BYU on the road in Provo. A week earlier, SJSU had topped Colorado State in a 38-31 final, giving the program the first set of back-to-back wins of any kind since 2008, thanks to the first win of 2011 on September 24, a 34-24 triumph over WAC foe New Mexico State.

Hawaii crushed SJSU out on the island last season, 41-7, which means the Warriors now hold a slim 17-16-1 edge in the all-time series which dates back to 1936.

As everyone knows, the Hawaii offense revolves almost solely around the arm of quarterback Bryant Moniz and little else. Granted, Moniz ran for an unexpected 121 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening win over Colorado, but the reality is that putting the ball in the air is the lifeblood of this group. Moniz, who has throw for more than 400 yards in each of the last two games and already has 15 touchdowns against just a single interception on 209 attempts, continues to find ample outlets for his throws. Royce Pollard is one of just six players with double-digit receptions already, leading the team with 550 yards and six TDs on 33 catches. When Pollard is bottled up, Moniz turns his attention to Billy Ray Stutzmann who is averaging 11.1 yards per catch and has two scores of his own, rather than trying to lean too much on a rushing attack that is now seventh in the conference and 110th in the nation with just 87.0 ypg.

In the two losses this season the Warriors defense was ripped apart for 40 points apiece by both the Huskies and Rebels in back-to-back road trips, but there are a few bright spots on that side of the ball for Hawaii nonetheless. From an individual standpoint, Art Laurel has made it his mission to make opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable with his team-best four sacks and four quarterback hurries. Laurel is first on the squad with five tackles for loss as well, even though he has but 19 total stops overall. Third on the tackles list with 24, John Hardy-Tuliau has been instrumental in changing the flow of games with two interceptions and a blocked kick and has teamed with guys like Corey Paredes (36 tackles) and Aaron Brown (33) to help make the group first in the WAC and eighth nationally with 93.2 ypg allowed on the ground thus far.

Jason Simpson scored the only touchdown for the Spartans against BYU over the weekend, a one-yard run into the end zone in the third quarter of what turned into a double-digit setback on the road. Matt Faulkner converted 25-of-35 passes for 255 yards, but was picked off twice in the losing cause, while the run game accounted for just 70 yards on 26 attempts. The Spartans were operating their offense without one of their top threats in Brandon Rutley who is suffering from a sprained ankle. Rutley, who is third in the WAC in rushing with 103.8 ypg on the ground, is still listed as questionable for the meeting with Hawaii, so SJSU might need to call upon a host of ball carriers again in order to pick up the slack. Faulkner had decent numbers heading into the BYU matchup and is still converting close to 63 percent of his throws, but he's delivered just four passing scores, three of which have gone to Ryan Otten which means defenses tend to know who they need to focus on these days.

BYU's run game shredded the San Jose State defense, the unit giving up 224 yards and an average of more than five yards per attempt, which kept the ball away from Faulkner and the offense just long enough to keep the Spartans from mounting any serious scoring threats in Provo. Keith Smith, who was named the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2010 after he led all first-year players in tackles per game with 8.9 per outing, was all around the ball for the Spartans on Saturday as he recorded a game-high 16 stops, 12 of which were made solo. Smith also registered a forced fumble and a recovery as he tried to keep his team in contention. Smith is again one of the nation's leaders in tackles per game this year with close to nine per outing, his 3.5 tackles for loss pacing the Spartans through six games, but still the unit is wanting in that category with just 3.3 TFLs per game to rank 119th in the country. Sacks have also been a sore spot for SJSU, the team managing just three total thus far, ranking them 119th in the nation in that department as well.

If the Spartans fail to get any real, sustainable pressure at the line of scrimmage this week they might be in for a long night, given how well Moniz can pick apart defenses when given enough time in the pocket.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Hawaii 49, San Jose State 24