Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich is hopeful the football-related travel lag comes with an expiration date.

“That was a very physical football game with Wyoming,” Rolovich said of last weekend’s 28-21 overtime loss in Laramie. “We’re going to have to get back on track, at least play better football — (eliminating) turnovers, getting takeaways, minimizing penalties, all that stuff. We haven’t been home in a while. We’ll see how we respond.”

On getting over the Wyoming loss and focusing on today’s game against Colorado State, Rolovich said, “We can’t let Wyoming beat us twice.”

This will be the Rainbow Warriors’ second home game in six weeks. The Warriors spent the week practicing against the scout teams portraying CSU’s schemes. Rolovich also has added lightness by challenging CSU head coach Mike Bobo to a pregame throw-it-into-a-garbage-can passing challenge. Bobo is a former quarterback who played in the 1998 Hula Bowl on Maui and was Georgia’s offensive coordinator against Hawaii in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.

The Rams have an accurate quarterback (Nick Stevens), two speedy wideouts (Michael Gallup, Olabisi Johnson), and experience on both sides of the line.

“I think this (CSU) team is very good,” Rolovich said. “It’s one of the best in the conference, especially offensively. They have a lot of good receivers. That quarterback knows how to work within the offense. When it was Jan. 1 of this year, I’m sure Coach Bobo looked at all his returners at key positions, and said, ‘This is our year.’ ”

Bobo said the Rams played “pretty decent” in their four nonconference games, including a 41-23 loss at Alabama two weeks ago. The Rams used last week’s bye to work on fundamentals, heal and study videos of UH.

“The tape doesn’t lie,” Bobo said. “This is going to be a tough challenge for our football team.”

The Rams arrived on Thursday afternoon, a day earlier than when they usually travel, and followed the travel suggestions of taking walks during the flight and staying hydrated. Bobo said the Rams will have to play through the challenge of a game that kicks off at about 10 p.m. Mountain time. This will be the Rams’ Mountain West opener.

The Warriors hope to rebound from the interdivision loss to Wyoming. “We have goals in mind,” quarterback Dru Brown said. “Losing one game isn’t going to ruin all the things we have in store for this season. Everything we want is still in front of us. If we were to throw in the towel now, we’d have some issues big time. … They’re a good team, but so are we. It should be a fun game. I’m excited to see how we play and how we respond to the way they play.”

Slotback Dylan Collie, a junior, has a front-row view to the Warriors’ development the past few years. “We’re on a path to success,” Collie said. “Sometimes you need to be put up against the wall to be tested. That’s where we’re at.”