When the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys meet on Saturday, it will be nearly 43 years to the day since the only other time NFL teams played a preseason game at Aloha Stadium. A crowd of 36,364 showed up on Aug. 21, 1976 to see the 49ers edge the Chargers 17-16.

When tickets quickly sold out for this Saturday’s exhibition, it seemed a good time to rank the biggest games in the history of Aloha Stadium, which has been open since 1975. So the Star-Advertiser sports staff voted on the most memorable sports events ever staged at the 50,000-seat Halawa facility.

Not surprisingly, seven of the top 10 are University of Hawaii football games. Just one of the top 10 — the Major League Baseball series between the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals — is not a football game.

That preseason game between the 49ers and Chargers tied for 21st.

More than half of the voters chose UH’s victory over Washington to cap the 2007 undefeated regular season as No. 1. That game had importance (the win put the Warriors in the Sugar Bowl) and drama (Ryan Mouton’s last-minute interception sealed a comeback victory).

“It was surreal, and honestly if it weren’t for Gerard Lewis tipping the pass I wouldn’t have been able to make a play on the ball.” said Mouton, who grew up in Texas as a Cowboys fan. “Being able to have that sellout crowd and have them behind us the entire game as we completed the comeback is one of the best feelings ever. I can still hear the roar of the fans and I have this picture that I keep of all the fans cheering and raising their hands after I caught that interception.”

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1. PERFECTION

Dec. 1, 2007 (49,566)

Hawaii 35, Washington 28

It was a fitting end to Hawaii’s 2007 football season. As they had four times earlier in the season, the Warriors fell behind early or had to come back late. This time, the Huskies — UH’s only regular-season opponent from a major conference — took a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. But Colt Brennan, who would finish third in the Heisman Trophy voting, threw five touchdown passes, four to Jason Rivers. The fifth was to Ryan Grice-Mullins with 44 seconds left.

Washington then got to the Hawaii 4. But after Solomon Elimimian stopped Jake Locker for a 2-yard loss, Ryan Mouton intercepted Locker’s pass in the end zone with three seconds left.

The victory propelled Hawaii — the only unbeaten Division I (FBS) team — to its first and to this date only New Year’s Day bowl game, and there was talk that UH would deserve the national championship with a victory over Georgia.

But, in the Sugar Bowl, the Bulldogs manhandled the Warriors 41-10.

2. FINALLY

Oct. 28, 1989 (46,841)

Hawaii 56, BYU 14

More than a decade of futility against the Cougars ended emphatically. The Rainbows scored on their first five possessions, with Garrett Gabriel completing 14 of his first 15 passes.

Gabriel threw for a then-school-record 440 yards, and Chris Roscoe caught eight passes for 158 yards as UH deviated from its usual flexbone running offense.

“We knew how the defense was going to line up and it was nothing tricky,” Gabriel said.

Hawaii amassed 622 yards against BYU, which had won the previous 10 meetings of the Western Athletic Conference teams.

“We could have scored 70 points tonight,” said UH safety Walter Briggs, who intercepted two Ty Detmer passes.

The Rainbows finished 9-3-1.

3. OUTRIGHT CHAMPS

Nov. 23, 2007 (49,651)

Hawaii 39, Boise State 27

Colt Brennan passed for five touchdowns and rushed for another as UH completed its WAC season at 8-0. It was the first outright conference championship for Hawaii, and its first win over the Broncos after six losses.

The victory left the Warriors as one of just two unbeaten teams in the nation, and in position to claim a berth in a New Year’s Day bowl game with a victory against Washington to finish the season.

Brennan’s performance gave him the NCAA record for touchdown passes and put him in contention for a spot as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

4. SEEING STARS

Jan. 27, 1980 (48,060)

NFC 37, AFC 27

Saints running back Chuck Muncie was the MVP as the first of 30 consecutive and 35 total Pro Bowls was played at Aloha Stadium. Legendary coach Tom Landry of the Cowboys got his first Pro Bowl win in three tries.

Muncie, who rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another, barely took the honors over his New Orleans teammate. All 10 of Archie Manning’s passes were caught; nine by NFC teammates and one by AFC linebacker Jack Lambert of the Steelers late in the game.

5. BCS BUSTER

Dec. 8, 2001 (46,958)

Hawaii 72, BYU 45

Both teams came into this game feeling disrespected — BYU because it was undefeated and feeling left out of the BCS picture, the Warriors because BYU seemed to be looking past them. Plus, UH was 8-3 and shut out of the bowl picture completely.

Hawaii was much, much better at proving its point. Nick Rolovich continued his torrid late-season run, throwing eight touchdown passes to total 20 in his last three games. Freshman Chad Owens ran wild, returning both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns, and totaling an NCAA-record 342 return yards.

Pisa Tinoisamoa’s crushing goal-line tackle of quarterback Brandon Doman as the first half ended with Hawaii leading 31-10 deflated BYU’s hopes for a comeback. When Craig Stutzmann punted the pigskin into the stands after his TD reception made it 52-24, there was really no need to put another ball in play — even with nearly 19 minutes left.

The fact that a sizzling Hawaii team with a 9-3 record had no bowl in which to play led to the creation of the Hawaii Bowl.

6. THE SHOW

April 19-20, 1997 (77,432 2-day total)

Cards take 2 of 3 from Padres

When the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres met for a three-game series the results counted in the regular-season standings — a rarity for top-level pro sports played in Hawaii.

It was a treat for baseball fans in Hawaii, who saw the Cardinals sweep pitchers’ duels, 1-0 and 2-1, on Saturday night. Then, on Sunday, Rickey Henderson went 3-for-4 with a walk and the all-time career stolen bases leader added two bags to his loot.

The star-power also included Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman and Ken Caminiti for the Padres, and Dennis Eckersley, Willie McGee and Ron Gant for the Cardinals. Gant hit an inside-the-park homer on Sunday.

7. OPENING ACT

Sept. 13, 1975 (32,247)

Texas A&I 43, Hawaii 9

The Javelinas from Kingsville, Texas, were undefeated in 1974, and they played like the NAIA champions they were in manhandling the Rainbows in the first game at their spacious new home in Halawa.

UH hurt itself with eight fumbles, including four that Texas A&I recovered.

“The field was all right. I just didn’t execute the plays right,” UH quarterback Alex Kaloi said.

UH got its first win at Aloha Stadium five weeks later, 24-7 over Portland State.

8. TURNAROUND

Nov. 13, 1999 (35,417)

Hawaii 31, Fresno State 24

With a stunning double-overtime victory, UH clinched a share of the WAC championship in coach June Jones’ first season. The Rainbows had gone 0-12 in 1998 in Fred vonAppen’s last season.

Dan Robinson threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Craig Stutzmann, and safety Dee Miller recovered three fumbles.

“This was why I came here,” Jones said. “I knew it could be like this.”

Hawaii would go on to beat Oregon State in the Jeep Eagle Oahu Bowl to finish 9-4 and with the biggest single-season turnaround in college football history to that point.

T9. CLOSER THAN THE SCORE

Dec. 2, 1978 (48,767)

USC 21, Hawaii 5

The score was 7-5 most of the night, as the Rainbows allowed the 39-point-favored, third-ranked Trojans just one Charles White touchdown until 7:41 was left. Linebacker Scott Voeller was in on 20 tackles. But USC finally put it away with interceptions by Ronnie Lott and Riki Gray (Ellison).

The Rainbows had led 3-0 on a Peter Kim field goal. They could have retaken the lead midway through the third quarter, but tailback David Toloumu’s trick-play pass was dropped by wide-open quarterback Jeff Duva at the USC 10 with no one between him and the end zone. Then, Wayne Black lost a fumble at the Trojans 5.

USC went on to beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and, by finishing first in the coaches’ poll, share the national championship with Alabama. The 1978 Trojans are considered one of the most talented teams in college football history, with all 22 starters eventually playing in the NFL.

Hawaii finished the season 6-5.

T9. DYNASTY DERAILED

Dec. 1, 2000 (14,267)

Kahuku 26, Saint Louis 20

Saint Louis dominated high school football in Hawaii, winning the last 13 Oahu Prep Bowls, and then, in 1999, the first state championship final. Finally, after six losses in the final in the 1980s and ’90s, including a couple of near-misses in the 1990s, Kahuku broke through.

Kahuku did it with power and talent, including two future NFL players in lineman Chris Kemoeatu and safety Aaron Francisco.

“Us young guys watched our brothers lose,” quarterback Inoke Funaki said. “I had three brothers who lost in this game. That was a lot of motivation for us.”

In the years since, Kahuku has won seven more titles at the state’s highest level, Saint Louis five, Kamehameha and Punahou two each and Leilehua and Mililani one apiece.

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THE COMPLETE VOTING:

The Star-Advertiser sports staff voted on the most memorable and impactful sports events at Aloha Stadium since its opening in 1975. Voters selected the top 15 in order, with 15 points for first, descending to 1 for 15th.

1. UH beats Washington, 2007: 156 (6 first-place votes);

2. UH beats BYU, 1989: 110 (2);

3. UH beats Boise State, 2007: 89;

4. First Pro Bowl at Aloha, 1980: 86;

5. UH beats BYU, 2001: 81;

6. MLB baseball, 1997: 70;

7. Texas A&I beats UH, 1975: 66 (1);

8. UH beats Fresno State, 1999: 63;

T9. USC beats Hawaii, 1978: 54 (1);

T9. Kahuku beats Saint Louis, 2000: 54 (1).

11. UH beats Oregon State in Oahu Bowl, 1999: 40;

12. Derek Tatsuno stars as UH baseball beats UNLV, 1979: 39;

13. Soccer great Pele leads Cosmos over Team Japan, 1976: 38;

14. High school state championship finals, 2017: 32;

15. Timmy Chang breaks NCAA records as UH beats LaTech, 2004: 30;

16. Saint Louis beats Kahuku in first state title game, 1999: 27;

17. Michigan State beats UH in Aloha Bowl, 1989: 22;

T18. Andy Ganigan wins co-main of nationally televised boxing card, 1981: 21;

T18. Waianae beats Kamehameha in Prep Bowl as 32,812 watch, 1975: 21;

20. UH beats Iowa on Jason Elam field goal, 1988: 20.

T21. 49ers beat Chargers in NFL preseason game, 1976: 19;

T21. Radford beats Saint Louis in Prep Bowl after coach John Velasco’s death, 1981: 19;

T21. UH blows out BYU again on day Ty Detmer wins Heisman, 1990: 19;

24. Long Beach Poly, De La Salle beat Kahuku, Saint Louis: 17, 2002;

25: Final Hawaii Islanders game, 1987: 16;

T26. Last Pro Bowl at Aloha, 2016: 10;

T26. Jim McMahon’s left-footed punt helps BYU beat UH, 1980: 10;

T28. Temple beats UH, 1979: 9; T28. First bowl doubleheader, 1998: 9;

T29. Aloha Bowl debuts, 1982: 8.

T29: Radford 1, Pearl City 0 (18-inning OIA baseball playoff), 1976: 8.

31. Kahuku beats Baldwin for state title with trick play in final minute, 2006: 7;

T32. Duncan Macdonald wins first Great Aloha Run, 1985: 6;

T32. Robbie Knievel crashes, then sticks motorcycle stunt landing, 1989: 6;

T32. MMA card features B.J. Penn, Akebono, 2005: 6;

T35. Tulane beats UH in first Hawaii Bowl, 2002: 4;

T35: Final Hula Bowl, 2008: 4;

T35. Farrington beats Kaiser, 1975: 4;

38. Islanders draw PCL record 23,114 for Fourth of July game and fireworks show, 1978: 3;

T39. UH beats BYU, 1992: 2;

T39. Hula Bowl features Heisman winners Billy Sims, Charles White: 1980: 2;

T39. Nebraska beats UH, 1976: 2.

T42. Soccer features David Beckham, Brian Ching, 2008: 1;

T42. Robert Lan returns fumble as UH beats Air Force, 1988: 1.