FRESNO, Calif. >>> Too early to talk about bowls for the University of Hawaii?

Not when it is mid-November and the Rainbow Warriors and Fresno State meet in the second annual Lame Duck Coaches Bowl.

Last year at this time, you might recall, Norm Chow had been fired and Chris Naeole was two weeks into the thankless task of finishing out the season for the then 2-8 Rainbow Warriors, who were winless in the Mountain West.

The Bulldogs, 3-7, took full advantage with their most dominating victory of the season, 42-14, at Aloha Stadium. Eleven games later, it remains Fresno State’s last victory over a fellow Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.

Now, fast-forward to today, where it is the ’Bows who catch 1-9 Fresno State, winless in conference, with an interim head coach, Eric Kiesau, two games after the Bulldogs jettisoned Tim DeRuyter.

When you are 4-7, as is UH, opportunity doesn’t knock much louder than this.

Consider that it is only the second time in 13 visits that UH, a three-point pick on the Las Vegas betting lines today, has been favored in Bulldog Stadium. The previous one was 2006, when UH won 68-37 on Colt Brennan’s five touchdown passes and Nate Ilaoa’s three TD runs.

Even the once-deafening and inhospitable Bulldog Stadium, where legend has it a screwdriver was aimed at June Jones, and visiting players had to run the gauntlet known as the “Red Mile” to and from the locker areas, has lost a lot of its edge.

And, the Red Wave, as the Bulldog faithful are known, has become but a trickle. UH appearances here have averaged 90 percent of capacity (41,031) over the years, but this figures to be the smallest turnout ever for a Rainbow Warrior game at Bulldog Stadium.

The fans are looking forward to next year, when former Bulldog quarterback and assistant coach Jeff Tedford takes over and Kiesau (pronounced key-saw), who was an offensive analyst at Alabama last season and the offensive coordinator elevated to interim head coach last month, has had his hands full trying to keep the players from doing the same.

He and the assistant coaches are caught in limbo, and the expectation here, as at UH last year, is that not many will be retained by Tedford, who is expected to attend today’s game.

Judging from their exhortations at midweek practices they are beseeching the players to go out fighting for the seniors if not themselves. “Coach Kiesau is doing a great job motivating us and keeping us energized,” said the Bulldogs’ spiritual leader, linebacker Jeff Camilli.

But, as Kiesau notes, it will be how the Bulldogs, who have struggled in this regard, respond to adversity that tells the tale.

The same can be said of the ’Bows coming off thrashings by the conference’s two best teams, San Diego State (55-0) and Boise State (52-16).

The Bulldogs looked upon last year’s trip to the islands as their bowl game, but the ’Bows, remarkably, are still not out of the picture for the real thing this season.

Should they win out against the Bulldogs and next week’s regular-season-ending opponent Massachusetts (2-8) at Aloha Stadium, the postseason looms as a possibility. With the record glut of 40 bowls, there are 80 slots to be filled and, so far, only 60 teams are assured winning or .500 records that qualify them for bowl eligibility.

Another 18 are one victory away from attaining it and the projection is that, like last season, when the returns are all in there will be at least three openings. In 2015, Minnesota, Nebraska and San Jose State got in with 5-7 records. A 6-7, UH would supersede 5-7 teams.

Where the ’Bows sit today, that’s a lot to play for.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.