RAINBOW FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Correia to be back at
right defensive end

Hawaii defensive end Joe Correia will not only play this weekend, he'll spend part of his time back at his old position.

The former St. Louis School standout began the season on the right side, but was switched to the left after he broke his hand.

And while the hand isn't completely healed, it feels good enough for Correia to put all his weight on it out of the three-point stance.

"He's going to play some on the right side, but he might wind up doing both during the game," UH coach June Jones said after yesterday's practice. "We'll use the same rotation on the other side."

That means Mike Iosua, Chris Brown and Matt Elam will see some playing time. Matt Paul will remain the starter on the right side, but he will be spelled from time to time by Correia.

"I think Joe is probably more comfortable on the left," UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said. "But we're going to rotate a lot of guys in and out of there to stay as fresh as we can."

Correia said he was feeling better and prepared to make the switch. He is also recovering from 325 pounds of weight falling on him after he lost control of the bar in the weight room.

He suffered no major internal injuries, but did have his liver checked by the medical staff to make sure.

Penalty holdover

Jones said yesterday that he hadn't contacted the Western Athletic Conference regarding the substitution pattern Hawaii employed against Tulsa last week that resulted in several flags.

Jones was upset about not only that interpretation of the rule, but an illegal procedure penalty that was called down near the goal line and the poor spotting of the ball by the line judge on Afatia Thompson's fumble recovery near the end zone.

In his mind, the Rainbows had seven men on the line of scrimmage on the first play and Thompson recovered his own fumble in the end zone. The ball was spotted just outside the goal line.

"But my main concern is all the personal foul penalties we've had this season," Jones said. "If you get a reputation for those, the referees talk, they'll start to watch you more closely."

TCU starts quickly

The Horned Frogs start quickly, but have had a problem fading down the stretch this season, a tendency Jones hasn't shared with the team.

TCU has scored on its first possession in six consecutive games. In fact, the Frogs jumped out to a 14-0 advantage over the Rice Owls last weekend, only to lose, 42-21.

"I'm not even aware of TCU and what they're trends are," Jones said. "We're just worried about us. We don't usually discuss those things. It's more on what they like to do on certain plays in given situations."

McMackin was aware of the trend, however. He also knew that top TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson was held to only 49 yards on 20 carries in the Horned Frogs' OT loss to the Bulldogs earlier this season.

"They didn't really do anything special," McMackin said of Fresno State's strategy against the nation's leading rusher. "For some reason, they decided to pass the ball more in that football game."

Injury update

The Rainbows had no major injuries in practice this week and will be as fit for duty as they have been in recent weeks.

Wideouts Attrice Brooks (knee) and Scott Sims (shoulder) will likely be out, but safety Daniel Ho-Ching (shoulder) will play. So will Correia (knee and hand) and Elam, who recently recovered from a bout of badly bruised ribs.

Free safety Jacob Espiau (hamstring) will be out at least three more weeks.

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By Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin