PARK RIDGE, N.J. >> Practicing 4,950 miles and five time zones away from the University of Hawaii campus?

No sweat.

“It’s no-sweat Thursday,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said of a suggestion that has become a weekly ritual for the UH football team.

The belief is that two days before a game is when hydration is most important. “Forty-eight hours, I was told, you can replace the glycogen levels in your body,” Batoon said, noting glycogen fuels energy production for muscles.

The Rainbow Warriors emphasize the approach, referring to Thursday practices as “heavy-hydration” days.

“For some of our guys, hydration is really important,” head coach Nick Rolovich said. “We’ve got some heavy sweaters. They’ve taken it upon themselves to be constantly drinking. This has been a real positive to the change in the schedule.”

As part of the format, the Warriors did not bring helmets to Thursday’s light practice at Saint Joseph’s Regional High School in New Jersey. The Warriors play Army on Saturday at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y.

Although the Warriors wore plain dry-fit shirts, quarterback Cole McDonald and the starting receivers stood out during the 90-minute, walk-through session. In the first two games, wideout JoJo Ward and slotbacks John Ursua and Cedric Byrd have drawn much of the attention from the run-and-shoot offense’s success.

But in last week’s game against Rice, left wideout Marcus Armstrong-Brown secured his place as the fourth receiver in the Rainbow Warriors’ four-wide attack. Armstrong-Brown had four catches for 41 yards, including a 14-yard scoring play in which he pirouetted and powered his way across the goal line.

“That was a big man’s play to carry those defenders and fight for those yards to get into the end zone,” receivers coach Andre Allen said. “We’re happy to see the progress every week that Marcus is making.”

Ursua, Ward and Byrd are sub-6-foot receivers with sub-4.5-second speed. “I know I’m not the fastest, like John, Byrd and JoJo,” said Armstrong-Brown, who is 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds. “They’ve all got very high-end speed. I have to make up somehow, and just being a big-bodied physical receiver is something I pride myself and the brand of football I like to play.”

With a right-handed quarterback, most back-side receivers are targeted on slants. But McDonald and Armstrong-Brown have developed a connection on back-shoulder throws. It is a timing pass, usually on a straight ahead route, that must be placed in a tight window between a receiver and a step-by-step defender. It is a difficult catch because the ball is thrown sightly behind a receiver, but important because it stretches a defense.

“It’s being on the same page and, honestly, just having that desire,” Armstrong-Brown said.

McDonald said Armstrong-Brown has always been part of the game plan. Armstrong-Brown had the Warriors’ first reception this season. “I feel we haven’t had any time to showcase his stuff yet because Cedric and John are so explosive,” McDonald said of the Warriors’ inside attack. “We’re trying to feed the outside guys, and give them some love, too. (Armstrong-Brown is) going to be a big factor in this (week’s) game.”

In two UH seasons, Armstrong-Brown, a senior, has handled all but two passes thrown directly at him. His only drop of this season came in the second game against Navy.

“The ball was coming,” Armstrong-Brown said. “I kind of tracked it while I was kind of looking at the DB behind me. I put my hand out, and it just hit the tip of my finger. I looked down, and it was sideways.”

Of the injury to the ring finger on his left hand, he joked, “I’m not getting married any time soon, so it’s no big deal.”

He said he recovered quickly from a similar injury in the spring. He said his hand has fully healed.

“I had to come back,” he said. “I didn’t want to miss all the fun.”