The Hawaii football team found a remedy for its recent ills: feed running back Diocemy Saint Juste, starve a losing streak.

Saint Juste carried a school-record 39 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-26 victory over San Jose State on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium. A homecoming crowd of 21,021 saw Saint Juste produce his third 200-yard game this season and fourth of his career.

In the process, the Rainbow Warriors prevailed for the first time since Sept. 2 — a span of 42 days and four losses — to improve to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West. The Spartans, under first-year head coach Brent Brennan, a former UH graduate assistant, fell to 1-7 and 0-4.

“He was rolling,” quarterback Dru Brown said of Saint Juste, a 5-foot-8, 200-pound blur from Florida. “The O-line was doing great. We just kept it going. It was awesome.”

Saint Juste, who also had a 1-yard reception, accounted for 45 percent of the Warriors’ 451 yards. His two 1-yard scoring runs contributed to the Warriors’ 4-for-4 success in the red zone. They entered scoring at 67 percent from that 20-yard area.

“He had a lot of carries,” coach Nick Rolovich said. “He played good. The guys up front did a nice job.”

Saint Juste ran behind a reorganized offensive line. After Chris Naeole resigned as offensive line coach 10 days earlier, graduate assistant John Estes took over the duties. Right tackle Chris Posa exited in the second half with an apparent foot injury. Matt Norman, the tight end in the jumbo package, finished at right tackle. Despite the switches, the Warriors have rushed for 522 yards in those two games, an average of 6.1 yards per carry. Saint Juste, who entered as the nation’s third-leading rusher, has averaged 221.5 yards the past two games.

“I didn’t know that,” Saint Juste said of Saturday’s 39-carry workload, “but I always come into a game expecting having that many carries.”

He could have increased his total except he was tripped up four times with nothing but empty FieldTurf ahead.

“It’s one of those things I need to work on in the future,” Saint Juste said.

Rolovich noted the Spartans’ talent belied their record. “We knew they were good,” Rolovich said. “I watched them on film. I knew they were going to come in with some fight. They had good coaches on that staff. We knew all week it wasn’t going to be easy.”

The Spartans defense featured an aggressive nose guard (Sailosi Latu), the nation’s leading tackler (middle linebacker Frank Ginda had 106 stops in his first seven games), and clingy cornerbacks (Andre Chachere and Jermaine Kelly). With a three-man front, the Spartans cluttered the passing lanes with up to eight defenders. But the thinner tackle box was inviting to the Warriors’ running game in general and Saint Juste in particular.

Still, there were several twists to this game’s script. Freshman Montel Aaron, who had missed the previous two games because of an injury, opened at quarterback. Aaron was 17-for-27 for 322 yards and two touchdowns to Rahshead Johnson. Johnson also scored on a 96-yard kickoff return to close the Spartans to 28-26 with 8:44 to play.

But SJSU’s David Williams was penalized for issuing a high-five during Johnson’s return. The 15-yard penalty made it a 35-yard extra-point kick, changing the trajectory — and, as it turned out, the momentum. Viane Moala blocked Bryce Crawford’s point-after attempt. UH’s Rojesterman Farris II scooped the football and raced the other way for a 2-pointer that gave the Warriors a 30-26 lead.

“I told (Moala) he could block it if we all worked together,” defensive end Meffy Koloamatangi said of the 6-foot-7, 290-pound Moala’s second block of the season. “We worked together, and it happened.”

The Warriors’ ensuing five-play, 63-yard drive concluded with Ryan Tuiasoa’s 3-yard touchdown run.

“It was very big for these guys,” said Rolovich, whose Warriors trailed 10-0 after the opening quarter. “We needed a test. We didn’t need an easy win. We needed to fight. We needed to show we could stay together when times got tough. You think about the kickoff return (for a touchdown) at Wyoming. We fell apart after that. Tonight, they stayed together.”

The statement-making situation was in the third quarter when the Spartans, trailing 21-13, moved within a few inches of the end zone.

“I don’t think not one of us on the field didn’t think we could stop them,” UH linebacker Russell Williams said. “We had this plan where we were going to shift the defensive linemen, and hopefully get a jump.”

SJSU’s Bill Humphreys was called for a false start, moving the ball back to the 5. On the next play, tight end Josh Oliver was penalized for pushing off, a violation that moved the ball to the 20. Aaron then fired 7-yard completions to Oliver and Justin Holmes to advance the Spartans to the 6. But rover Kalen Hicks deflected a pass that middle linebacker Jahlani Tavai intercepted.

“I just seized an opportunity,” Tavai said.

Rolovich said: “I’m proud of these guys. There were times … that were very similar to other situations this season where we folded, we wilted. And today we didn’t.”