SALT LAKE CITY >> When the final words are crafted on Craig Stutzmann’s life, he would like them to speak of his goodness as a husband and father.

“In the end,” said Stutzmann, the Hawaii football team’s quarterbacks coach and a former Warriors receiver, “if it says, ‘he punted the ball into the stands against BYU,’ that’ll be fun. It’s better to be remembered for something that’s fun than not good.”

It has been 17 years since Stutzmann celebrated with a PAT — punt after touchdown — in the Warriors’ upset of previously unbeaten Brigham Young in 2001. Through the years, when BYU is brought up in word-association conversations, Stutzmann’s antic still draws way-to-go smiles. It has been that way in the days leading to today’s game between UH and BYU at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

UH head coach Nick Rolovich, who threw eight scoring passes in that 2001 game, has provided history lessons to his players.

“I’m sending them links,” Rolovich said of the articles on the UH-BYU rivalry. “I guess there’s a Midweek article this week somebody sent me. This team … they know.”

If the 6-1 Rainbow Warriors prevail this evening, they will clinch a winning 13-game regular season and qualify for an automatic berth in the Dec. 22 Hawaii Bowl.

“They’re in the middle of writing their own legacy,” Rolovich said of this year’s Warriors. “I forgot who told us that. It may have been (former Warrior) Tavis Campbell when he spoke to us in Oakland. He talked about writing your own legacy. ‘You guys have the pen now.’ I think they know it. We don’t need to harp on it.”

This season, Rolovich has implored a play-for-each-other amendment to his “Live aloha, play Warrior” phrase.

Former UH head coach June Jones “used to say that to us, to play for each other,” Rolovich said. “It made too much sense for me. I’ve stolen it, and I say it before every game and most practices and most team meetings. I think it’s strong with this group. Whether you’re from Canada or Australia or Samoa or Chicago, the guys have bought into playing for each other, which is nice to coach.”

Rolovich indicated that unity has been instrumental in the Warriors’ improvement from last season’s 3-9 disaster.

“I think it’s the biggest thing,” Rolovich said. “You can say it’s the run-and-shoot. You can say it’s the new schemes on defense. It’s not. It’s them playing for each other. On a side note to that, it’s the coaching staff all understanding that’s the direction we’re going.”

The Warriors are whole again with the return of quarterback Cole McDonald, who did not play in last week’s game because of an undisclosed injury. Although the Warriors are winless in nine games at BYU, offensive line coach Mark Weber has personal experience that streaks can be broken.

Weber was BYU’s line coach for six seasons through 2012. Weber was a Utah State assistant coach when the Aggies beat BYU 35-20 in 2014, ending an 18-game losing streak in Provo.

Weber said the Cougars have a “good program, a storied program, and it’s fun to go into that environment.”

The Cougars have lost six of their past nine home games, with victories against two FCS members — Portland State and McNeese State — and San Jose State.

As an independent, the Cougars have weekly goals — and an approach similar to UH’s.

“Every game that we play is motivation,” receiver/returner Aleva Hifo said. “Every game that we have is a game we want to win. What we have to play for is each other. That’s something we want to do whether we’re home or away.”