FRESNO, Calif. >> It has been more than a decade since then-head coach Pat Hill grimly invoked the phrase “a line-in-the-sand game” when bringing the Fresno State football team to Hawaii.

But folks here in California’s Central Valley have resurrected it, finding the sentiments particularly apropos this week.

The defending Mountain West Conference champions are an unimagined 3-4 (1-2 in conference) as they come to Aloha Stadium for Saturday’s game.

And the feeling here is that a season of once high expectations either finds its turnaround point in Halawa or accelerates its demise there.

The Bulldogs, who had gone 14-2 in conference in winning consecutive West Division titles, were the odds-on favorite to make it three in row this year. But the new reality is that just achieving bowl eligibility might be a difficult slog after being outscored 86-55 in conference losses to Air Force and Colorado State.

Losing to Air Force was one thing, as UH can tell you. But falling to previously 2-5 CSU in a game the Bulldogs started off badly only to catch up then blow a lead, was quite another.

That 41-31 homecoming loss to CSU, a two-touchdown underdog last week, has produced the first howls of disappointment to be heard in head coach Jeff Tedford’s magical three-year tenure.

Tedford, a former Bulldog quarterback, took over a program that had gone 1-11 in 2016 and 10-28 over three seasons and immediately turned it into a winner in 2017. In his first two seasons, Tedford took the Bulldogs to 10-4 and 12-2 records and Fresno State finished 18th in the national polls last season.

Which is why Fresno State made Tedford the conference’s highest-paid coach at nearly $2.9 million annually when you take in both the base salary ($1.6 million) and a generous bonus schedule ($1.2 million each of the last two years).

Even a 31-23 season-opening loss at USC and a 38-35 double-overtime defeat by Minnesota, both games Fresno State had chances to win, seemed to portend good things for the Bulldogs when they hit conference play.

Once some of the younger players — five true freshmen have started games this season — grew into their roles, it was thought, the Bulldogs would thrive. Instead, folks here will tell you, there have been recurring signs of regression lately.

The widely held perception is that Fresno State misses too many tackles, commits too many penalties at crucial junctures and, because of its struggles in the red zone — ranking 102nd among 130 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision teams — it can’t close out games it should win.

Losing their top offensive lineman and captain, Leilehua’s Netane Muti, to a season-ending foot injury after three games hasn’t helped the Bulldogs. Neither did preseason injuries to the running back corps.

Now comes the prime-time point in the Bulldogs’ schedule. Beginning with UH, four of Fresno State’s final five opponents will be West Division foes. But Tedford waves off any talk of a stretch run for that third consecutive division title.

“Yes, we know we have West Division opponents, but we’re in no position to look ahead,” Tedford said at his weekly press conference Monday. “We have to focus on one day at a time and improve each day.”

Because, for the Bulldogs, that line in the sand looms Saturday — and they aren’t talking about one at the beach.

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