PROVO, Utah » It is fitting there are antique stores peppered throughout this southern Utah city. Provo appears to be from another era.

The streets are wide and free of litter. There is no metered parking. Two stores sell fabrics. Another sells sewing machines and sewing lessons.

But time did not stand still. The cafes offer WiFi and Lil Wayne verses as background music. Newspapers are on iPads. There is a tobacco store.

This is not Norm Chow’s Provo, a place where he choreographed Brigham Young’s football offenses. Hawaii will be the fourth different team he will have brought to play BYU in Provo since he left in 2000.

In preparing the Warriors for today’s nationally televised game, Chow has dismissed any such talk of a reunion or homecoming.

“It’s not about me,” Chow said. “It’s about the players. It’s about getting ready for a football game. I don’t even think about the other stuff.”

And there is other stuff — the thin air that dries skin and sails passes; the challenges of a road game on an abbreviated practice week, and BYU’s top-10 defense.

Chow’s strategy is to stick to the routine. Every practice since spring training has been run at a quick pace. After practices, the players run “gassers” — sideline-to-sideline-sprints — to maintain their wind.

The Warriors had afternoon practices through Tuesday. They worked out on Wednesday morning, then traveled to Southern California that afternoon. They stayed overnight, had a walk-through Thursday morning, then traveled by charter flight to Provo.

The first time they will be in LaVell Edwards Stadium is for pregame warm-ups. Chow has said he wants to avoid the in-awe moments when players take pictures of stadiums.

At one time, there was an intense rivalry between BYU and Hawaii, at least on the island side of the Pacific Ocean. But only one Warrior starter was alive in 1989, when UH’s Garrett Gabriel led the one-side victory. And that player, receiver/returner Scott Harding, was in Australia.

When the teams met at Aloha Stadium in December 2011, BYU linebacker Brandon Ogletree recalled, “it didn’t feel like a rivalry game. It felt like a normal game.”

The series began to lose its luster in 1998 when BYU and seven other schools decided to secede from what was a 16-team Western Athletic Conference. The Mountain West Conference was created.

The Mountain West had little interest in UH until some members, such as BYU, opted to leave. BYU is now in its second year as an independent — an option UH officials had considered before receiving the MWC invitation.

“It’s cool for the fans,” Ogletree said of BYU’s independent status.

This year, the Cougars play only one home game after mid-October.

“It does pose a unique challenge,” BYU quarterback Riley Nelson said. “We have to play a lot of games on the road. We welcome that challenge.”

For now, the Cougars are trying to solve the riddle of their offense. They have been inconsistent for a team with 29 seniors.

The Warriors, meanwhile, are trying to gain their groove after last week’s 69-24 blowout loss to Nevada.

“It’s good to play again,” UH cornerback Mike Edwards said.

That’s a sentiment shared by BYU’s Ogletree following last week’s loss to Boise State.

“The best thing after a loss is to get back to work,” Ogletree said. “That’s our approach.”