COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT / WEEKDAY UPDATE : SAN DIEGO STATE : Sagapolutele to See Some Old Friends

San Diego State defensive end Pio Sagapolutele will be seeing plenty of familiar faces Saturday when Hawaii plays the Aztecs at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Sagapolutele went to Maryknoll High in Honolulu and one of his teammates there was Hawaii quarterback Garrett Gabriel. He is also friends with several of the other players.

“We’re good friends,” Sagapolutele said of Gabriel. “I’m good friends with half of the offensive team. . . . When I went back this summer, I said (to Gabriel), ‘Yeah, I’ll see you in the backfield.’ ”

Sagapolutele said the only problem is that Gabriel relays his comments to the Hawaii offensive line.

Still, during the summer, Sagapolutele and several of the Rainbow Warriors get together.

“I go out with them to dances, and watch movies or for a few beers,” Sagapolutele said. “It’s different when we’re on the field, though. They act like they’re not my friends, and I act like I don’t know them.”

It should be an interesting weekend for the folks from Hawaii.

First, the football team. The Rainbow Warriors will fly to Los Angeles today and work out at a high school there. They will take the train to San Diego Friday and practice that afternoon at the stadium.

Meanwhile, the Hawaii Alumni Association is promoting “UH Alumni Weekend II”, with festivities ranging from a pre-game tailgate party in the stadium parking lot to a post-game party at a hotel. The SDSU ticket department estimated that there will be about 2,000 Hawaii fans in attendance.

Despite the Aztecs’ rousing success against Utah Saturday, Coach Al Luginbill does not want two weeks off again anytime soon. “If we could, I’d rather play a full schedule without a break . . . 11 straight weeks, and then take a break before playing a bowl game,” Luginbill said. “It’s difficult. I’d just as soon not do it. It’s a grind.” . . . Scouts from nearly 10 NFL teams have requested passes for Saturday’s game, including representatives from Cleveland, Detroit, New York Jets, New York Giants, Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams. Former Ram running back Lawrence McCutcheon is the Ram scout.