"I'm not going unless they can use me on the chain gang," Correia said, then smiled. "I tore the ligament in my knee and normally it takes six to eight weeks for it to get better.

"I'm going to try to rest it this weekend and see how I feel for the TCU game the following week. I want to keep playing if I can be effective on the field."

Coach June Joneswon't go so far as to say Correia will not be on the trip, but he conceded it was unlikely Correia would play against the Golden Hurricane.

"I didn't think he would play again after the first knee injury, but he proved me wrong," Jones said. "He could have torn it the first time, we don't know for sure.

"I'd say it's unlikely he will play this week, but we'll wait until maybe Wednesday or Thursday before making a final determination."

UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said that Mike Iosua and Chris Brown will play the right end spot if Correia can't go.

Injury report

"We're a little thin at that spot," Jones conceded. "We will start Ashley Lelie and move Sean Butts into the backup role. He's worked real hard this summer and it's his turn to get an opportunity if it so presents itself."

The redshirt freshman has yet to catch a Division I pass. Butts has spent most of this season on the scout team. Jones was still upset at the hit on Sims -- who got his first start 10 days ago -- in the 38-19 loss to the Owls that led to his shoulder problem.

"That should have been a personal foul on the Rice safety (Travis Ortega) for using the top part of his helmet," Jones said.

Hawaii welcomed back safety Daniel Ho-Ching (shoulder) and slotback Davey deLaura (knee). Defensive end Matt Elam (bruised ribs) also was at practice yesterday.

Rainy practice

"It was a blessing for our football team," defensive end Tony Tuioti said. "For about 10 minutes, we were just running around in puddles of water. It was nice."

Jones never thought of calling off practice, even though throwing and catching the ball proved difficult.

"You just have to practice through something like this," Jones said, then smiled. "Now, if it started to thunder and lightning, that would have been a different matter. We would have cleared out of there in a hurry."

Recruiting needs

Three assistants spent most of last week in California recruiting junior college and high school players. The remaining assistants took a hard look at the local talent.

"We will definitely sign some JC guys at midterm," Jones said. "We determined yesterday that we have up to nine spots open for junior college guys coming in.

"You take a look at what (cornerback) Shawndel Tucker was able to accomplish by coming it at midterm and having spring ball. Attrice hasn't been able to adjust as quickly and it took Dee Miller three games before he got comfortable. So, we want to bring in guys who can help us right away."