There were fireworks when Hawaii football player Trevor Davis entered the world.

"Born on the Fourth of July," Davis said. "It sucks, man. It’s not fun. Everybody is out with their families. You can never have a birthday party because everyone is gone. I’m just watching the fireworks. I’d rather have a regular birthday, something ordinary."

This season, Davis is providing a spark for the Warriors. Despite a variety of ailments, Davis has emerged as a big-play receiver.

He leads the Warriors with an average of 18.9 yards a catch. What’s more, he has a 75 percent completion rate when he is the primary receiver.

"Trevor is doing a good job," said UH head coach Norm Chow, who doubles as the offensive coordinator.

Against Nevada, Davis made an over-the-shoulder catch for a 36-yard gain. Later, he caught a shin-high pass. He is averaging an extra 2.5 yards after absorbing an initial hit.

The improvement comes "from playing in games," said Davis, a sophomore from Martinez, Calif. "Now I’m not as nervous once the game starts. I’ve been here before. I know what I have to do. I have to go out and execute. It’s the same thing as in practice, really. I just go full speed, like in practice, catch the ball and go upfield."

In high school, Davis competed in football, basketball, baseball and track. But he focused on football because of the competition and his "love of catching."

"Even when I was younger, they wanted me to play running back," Davis said. "I wouldn’t do it because we ran the ball a lot and nobody could throw. I just like catching."

Davis’ second cousin is Donovan McNabb, a former Pro Bowl quarterback. McNabb would give him tickets whenever his teams played in Oakland or San Francisco.

"Before I came out here, he gave me some tips on where I should go and what I should do," Davis said. "He talked to me about decision-making. When it came to choosing a school, he told me to go with my heart."

The answer turned out to be UH.

"I really liked it here," Davis said.

He expected to redshirt as a freshman in 2011. But with the growing number of injuries at receiver, Davis was activated for the final six games.

Davis remained in Hawaii this past summer. He attended summer classes, and worked out six days a week.

"I did a lot of weight-lifting, a lot of upper-body and lower-body work," Davis said. "And a lot of running. I like to run. I wish we had track out here. That’s my other love."