The forecast for Saturday's college football game between Hawai'i and host Nevada is: Brrrr.

"I love cold weather," said UH running back Nate Ilaoa, who was raised in the Washington, D.C., metro area, "for sleeping in."

The mercury is predicted to free-fall to a low of 33 degrees Saturday in Reno.

"I played in some really cold games back home," said slotback Davone Bess, who was raised in Oakland, Calif., "but nothing close to how it'll be in Reno."

Quarterback Colt Brennan, who played at the University of Colorado as a freshman in 2003, said the weather should not be a problem.

"When you go out there and play, your body temperature shoots up, and you sweat," Brennan said. "When it's hot outside and you're playing, you get hotter. When it's cold outside, it evens out. It's great weather to play in. It's football weather."

Graduate assistant coach Jeff Reinebold, who was a head coach in Canada, said a significant effect is that the football feels heavier in cold weather.

"The football can get really hard," Reinebold said. "You can have issues with catching the football. It can be a problem in that stadium."

Brennan said a solution is to slightly deflate the football, making it softer.

Reno's thin air — the city is 4,700 feet above sea level — dries the skin, making it difficult to grip the football. Brennan has been instructed to moisten his hands with either sweat or spit. "No dry heaving," mused UH coach June Jones, a reference to Brennan's habit of vomiting during games.

Jerry Glanville, who was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Oilers, recommended some of his old policies to Jones.

"We had a deal that what you wore in training camp you could wear in December," Glanville said. "If you wore gloves in training camp, I'd let you wear gloves in a game."

Glanville said he also used to turn off the heat in the locker room.

"Otherwise, you'd come in at halftime and you wouldn't want to come back out," he said. "Before we went out to start the game, I had my equipment man open all of the windows in the locker room. I never let the weather be a factor. You can't give in to the weather."

Before playing games in Cleveland, Glanville told his players: "The good news is we're only there for three hours. The rest of those fools have to spend the rest of their lives there. We're going there to create an event, win the game and go home. It will only be three hours. You can do anything in three hours, even stand on your head."

FIT TO PLAY IN

Equipment specialist Al Ginoza said the new road uniforms have been custom fit for each player.

The uniforms — featuring black numbers on white jerseys — were introduced for UH's Oct. 22 game at San Jose State. Jones and several players complained that the uniforms were too baggy.

For the first three road games, the Warriors wore uniforms with silver numbers on white jerseys. But athletic director Herman Frazier ordered a change after television and radio announcers complained they had difficulty reading the silver numbers.

Nike donated the uniforms with the silver numbers. The uniforms with the black numbers cost UH about $10,000.

Jones had said he would use the uniforms with silver numbers if the new uniforms were not tapered.

QUARTERBACK SCRAMBLE

Inoke Funaki, who serves as the opposing team's quarterback during defensive drills, is expected to resume practicing today.

Funaki, who is redshirting this season, left the team for a week because of a family emergency in Utah. He returned early yesterday, but missed the morning practice because of flu-like symptoms.

Jeff Rhode, a fifth-year senior, was the scout team quarterback yesterday.

Kainoa Akina, also a fifth-year senior, will be included on the 60-player travel roster to Reno. He is the backup to Brennan and Tyler Graunke.

FINDING HIS WAY BACK

Mikhail Kafentzis had the sort of NCAA debut that inspires Wes Craven. He could not be found as the returner for the season-opening kickoff — Jason Ferguson took his place, suffering a severe knee injury on the play — and he fumbled away a return.

And then ... nothing.

"I went off the radar a little bit," said Kafentzis, who did not play in the next six games.

During the public hiatus, he moved to running back, the first step in his comeback. Kafentzis, who was used in three series against Fresno State last week, has earned a berth on the 60-player travel roster to Reno.

Kafentzis said he was unavailable for the season-opening kickoff because he was searching for his prescribed medicine, which was supposed to be placed on the sideline. He declined to reveal the type of medicine he uses.

He remained confident he would have opportunities to rebound.

"I'm only a freshman," he said of that first game. "Two months earlier, I was playing in an all-star high school game. I wasn't used to college (football). I didn't have a feel for it. But I knew as a freshman, I'd have a lot more opportunities."

Jones said Kafentzis is the Warriors' fastest running back. In high school, Kafentzis ran 40 yards in 4.38 seconds and 100 meters in 10.8 seconds.

At 5 feet 7 and 185 pounds, Kafentzis said, "most people ask me about my speed. I'm not very big, so it's got to be either speed or something."

But, he added, "when I tell them my last name is 'Kafentzis,' they say, 'Oh, OK, you play football for Hawai'i."

Five of his uncles played for UH; two cousins are on this year's team.

He used his step-father's surname of "Powell" through high school. But after turning 18, he adopted his mother's maiden name of "Kafentzis."

"I'm close to my mom's side," he said. "We have tons of cousins. It was the last name I wanted to have. I wanted to be part of the Kafentzis name."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.