The University of Nevada football team will arrive here Sunday on an airplane, but what really brings the Wolf Pack to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl is its win over Hawai'i six weeks ago.

Ask Wolf Pack coaches or players about the turning point in their first Western Athletic Conference co-championship season and they point to the 38-28 victory over the Warriors.

Inquire about where the boost of energy that brought a four-game winning streak to end the regular season came from and they say the Nov. 5 Hawai'i contest.

On one hand, said quarterback Jeff Rowe, it gave the Wolf Pack the confidence that resulted in an 8-3 (7-1 WAC) record and its first bowl appearance since 1996.

On the other, it was UH's sixth loss of the season, eliminating the eventual 5-7 Warriors from bowl eligibility.

"I think that was really a turning point for us," Rowe said. "After we made them bowl (ineligible), we were like, 'OK, now we have a shot.' We felt like we could go to a bowl and Hawai'i was our best shot."

With only two WAC teams guaranteed berths and front-running Boise State headed to its backyard MPC Computers Bowl and Fresno State likely headed elsewhere, eventually ending up in the Liberty Bowl, Rowe said the Wolf Pack saw an opening where, only a week earlier, there had been darkness and frustration.

The Wolf Pack was at a low ebb after getting trampled at Boise State, 49-14, Oct. 29. The then-4-3 Wolf Pack, with four games remaining, including UH and Fresno State, faced a crossroads and head coach Chris Ault let the team know it. He challenged the players and coaches to turn things around in no uncertain terms.

"There's no question we came off the Boise game — and it really wasn't even a game — really disappointed and quite disgusted with the way we played there," Ault said.

"And, Hawai'i was a very good team ... that could do a lot of damage to you. That game, right there was, I think, maybe the most critical game of the year for us."

The Wolf Pack played a tunoverless game, wore down Hawai'i with its running game and forced two important second-half turnovers to win.

Until then, perhaps only Wolf Pack receiver Caleb Spencer, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, who said he had been dreaming of a postseason return home, had really grasped the possibilities for Nevada.

"After the game, it (sunk in), it was like, 'we really have a shot at the Hawai'i Bowl!' " Rowe said.

Nevada cemented it by winning its remaining games, New Mexico State, Utah State and, what Ault has said might be the school's biggest win, 38-35 over then-nationally ranked Fresno State.

"That game (against UH) seemed to turn it around for us," Rowe said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.