Scott Harding is learning the upside of downsizing.

Through the Hawaii football team’s first three games, Harding served as a wideout, punter, punt returner and holder.

After the suspensions lapsed for punter Alex Dunnachie and holder Cayman Shutter, Harding’s duties were cut in half, enabling him to focus on punt returns and receiving.

Harding is averaging 10.33 yards per punt return, ranking 30th nationally and second in the Mountain West Conference.

His average of 14.9 yards per reception is tops among Warriors with at least two catches. He has nine receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Harding opened the season as the No. 1 Z receiver, a position aligned on the strong side of the formation. A week ago, he moved to slotback, a position where he feels more comfortable.

"I love slot," said Harding, a sophomore from Australia. "I have fun playing slot. That’s where I played in the spring."

Harding said there is actually more room on slot routes, where he can curl into the flats or run crossing patterns in front of safeties.

"Playing the inside, you can work the safeties a little bit," Harding said. "You feel you have more room and holes to work with."

The things is, both of Harding’s touchdowns — on post pattern against Southern California and a streak against New Mexico — came when he was aligned as a wideout.

Another thing: Both times he had awkward celebrations. Against USC, he held the ball for a second before intentionally dropping it to the turf. Fortunately for Harding, the officials ruled he had possession for enough time. Against New Mexico, he spiked the ball after crossing the goal line.

"I was too excited," Harding said. "Those were my first two touchdowns ever."

Celebrations weren’t a problem during Harding’s six-year career as a professional Australian rules football player.

In that sport, Harding said, "the play stops and takes maybe 30 seconds for the play to start again. There are no rules against excessive celebration in Australia. You can do whatever you want. There was one time when I pointed to the (opposing) crowd. The crowd down there gets pretty rowdy. They don’t like us (visiting) players, so it’s good to throw it back in their faces. It’s all in good fun."

Injury report

UH coach Norm Chow said he is "hopeful" running back Joey Iosefa and weak-side linebacker Art Laurel will be available for the Oct. 27 road game against Colorado State. The Warriors have a bye this weekend.

Iosefa has missed four consecutive games because of a fracture in his right foot. Laurel has discomfort in his right knee.

Laurel moved from the strong side to the weak side three weeks ago. He suffered the injury against San Diego State two weeks ago, and did not play in last week’s game against New Mexico. Second-year freshman Kendrick Van Ackeren started at weak-side linebacker in place of Laurel.

Chow said Laurel will regain his starting job when he’s healthy.

Chow was less enthused about speedy recoveries for receiver Trevor Davis and offensive linemen Sean Shigematsu and Ben Dew.

Davis missed the New Mexico game after suffering a hamstring injury during warmups. Chow said the pull was "pretty severe," and Davis’ availability for CSU is "iffy."

Shigematsu is wearing a medical boot after suffering a sprained right ankle. Chow said it would be a "long shot" for Shigematsu to play against CSU.

Dew aggravated an injury to his left knee when he was struck on the side during Wednesday’s practice. He initially suffered the injury during a bye-week practice last month.

Mike Edwards was excused from Thursday’s practice because of a family situation. He will return to Hawaii on Sunday.