WEST POINT, N. Y. >> University of Hawaii slotback John Ursua had just raced downfield and hauled in a Cole McDonald pass for an 80-yard touchdown when a badly trailing defender posed a question.

“‘Why are you always smiling?’” Ursua said the linebacker inquired.

“I told him, ‘I always smile when I score,’” Ursua said.

But while there was much for Ursua to smile about in a three-hour, 16-minute game in which he scored three touchdowns — two on receptions and one rushing — the eventual outcome, a 28-21 nonconference loss to Army, soon wiped the smile away.

He scored three touchdowns on a day when the Rainbow Warriors needed more to remain undefeated through four games.

“Whether I score four touchdowns or none, it doesn’t matter if we don’t win,” Ursua said afterward. “Winning is what matters.”

Ursua, who came into the game leading the Football Bowl Subdivision in receiving yards (423 yards on 26 catches) finished with six catches for 123 yards — his ninth 100-yard-plus game at UH and fourth this season.

He seemed to have provided a spark to a wheezing offense when he pulled in the 80-yard pass to help close the ‘Bows to seven points with eight minutes, 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“I honestly lost the ball (in flight) for a moment, I looked around and, then, it just kind of dropped into my hands,” Ursua said.

Thanks to that play, the game seemed about ready to fall into UH’s hands, too, after the Rainbow Warriors had trailed for the first time this season.

“I think everybody here (in Michie Stadium) thought things were shifting,” Army coach Jeff Monken acknowledged afterward.

“We had just scored (with nine minutes, 1 second remaining) to go up 28-14 and made a good play on the kickoff coverage at the 20 (yard line),” Monken said. “We were trying to cover them over the top, but the kid (Ursua) just ran right past us. Like he has done to a lot of people.”

Ursua scored the game’s first touchdown on a 12-yard pass from McDonald in the first quarter and added a second-quarter touchdown in a bit of sleight of hand drawn up by offensive coordinator Brian Smith for his seventh score of the season.

Ursua went in motion on first-and-goal, took the direct snap from center Taaga Tuulima and plunged in from 1 yard out. “I played quarterback throughout high school, so I felt comfortable taking the snap,” Ursua said.

He was less comfortable with the result of the game at the end of the day. “It is just very frustrating to come here and lose,” Ursua said.