Fresno State in familiar territory at Aloha Stadium

Officially, Fresno State will be the "visitor" when it plays Rice University Dec. 24 in the Hawaii Bowl.

But the Bulldogs know better.

By now they figure to know, for example, the best plate lunch places to hit. The top night spots to visit, where to find affordable souvenirs and which hours and roads to avoid.

All knowledge collectively gained through what will be their fourth visit here, between regular-season and Hawaii Bowl appearances, in as many years.

It is a streak that will be extended to five consecutive visits in the fall when they are scheduled to return for a 2015 Mountain West Conference game.

Not since Brigham Young in the late 1980s will one team from the continent have trod the Aloha Stadium turf on a more regular basis.

"I’m really been happy that I’ll be there for three of those years so far," Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter said as the Bulldogs prepare to arrive Friday.

While the immediate focus is on beating Rice, the Conference USA representative, in the nationally televised game, DeRuyter knows the visit can also pay down-the-road dividends in mitigating the "ahh" factor.

"You still have travel issues for the guys that return (the next year), but a little bit of the novelty of going to Hawaii for the first-time guys" will be worn off, DeRuyter said.

He said, "we’ll get a lot of the tourism things out of the way during the bowl trip. I think (the experience) definitely helps in the years that you are not playing the bowl game here, that you are just going out there on a business trip for a (regular season) game."

DeRuyter said, "kids that are going out there for the very first time, they want to experience all the things that Hawaii has to offer. But, as a football coach, when you are just there for 48 hours, to just want to get there, enjoy it a little bit and win the football game. In a bowl game you get a bit more time to enjoy it and, hopefully, that memory, especially if you can win."

Beating Rice (7-5) takes on more urgency for the MWC West Division champion Bulldogs (6-7) who are the only team in the 38 bowls with a losing record. In addition, they have not won a bowl game anywhere since 2007, a string of five losses. Included are 45-20 setbacks to USC last year in the Las Vegas Bowl and 43-10 to Southern Methodist and June Jones in the 2012 Hawaii Bowl.

"We have a bunch of seniors with a chip on their shoulders about the last game," DeRuyter said. "Nobody likes how we felt after that last game the last two years. And, we need to change that."