Utah State, Veikune, Nobriga, Tepa, Farmer

Via the Charlotte Observer, the Sports Network has a preview of the UH-USU matchup.

Jason Kaneshiro writes about Keith AhSoon returning to practice yesterday.

"I've been out for a while so I just have to go in slowly and work my way back into fullspeed contact," AhSoon said after his first practice in more than a month.

"I'm trying to make that audition in this week's practices and hopefully I'll make that (travel) squad."

Kaneshiro profiles defensive ends David Veikune and John Fonoti, and has notes about the Cincinnati game, Josh Leonard's injury, and UH commit Liloa Nobriga looking at other schools. Stephen Tsai wrote about that yesterday.

But after a meeting with his father tonight, he said he would like to take recruiting trips to other schools. “He wants me to take trips,” said Nobriga, who added, “I had a lot of fun on the (UH recruiting) trip. It was everything I imagined. The coaches treated me with great respect. We stayed in a beautiful hotel. I love the program. I grew up being a UH fan. I would love to go there. I would love to see myself as a Warrior at the end.”

Speaking of UH commits still looking, Long Beach Poly defensive end Iuta Tepa has sorta decommitted from UH.

One of the fastest-rising players out West is Long Beach Poly (Calif.) defensive lineman Iuta Tepa. Tepa was an early commitment to Hawaii, but a strong senior season has brought forth a handful of scholarship offers. The lineman is now saying he is 'open' and will make a final decision after taking all his visits.

The Warriors were the first school to offer Tepa and the lineman committed on the spot.

"I now have offers from Colorado State, Washington State, Oregon State, Oregon and UCLA," Tepa said. "Oregon and UCLA were the most recent offers coming about a week ago.

"Right now, my plan is to take all my visits and then make my decision after my last trip. I don't have any dates set right now and I'm open to everyone who is recruiting me. I don't have a leader, everyone is even right now."

Although Tepa claims to be wide open, from talking to some of the coaches at Poly, it sounds like Oregon could be the team to beat right now.

Sadness! But back to David Veikune and some happier news, he's been getting the attention of NFL scouts and draft pundits.

Hawaii senior DE David Veikune entered the season as an afterthought for NFL scouts despite leading the team in sacks after having only started one game in 2007, but he is making his presence felt this season. In six starts, he has notched 37 tackles and five tackles for loss and generally finds his way to the quarterback. He gets off the ball quickly, plays with his hands, chases hard and shows good football playing instincts.

And from Sports Illustrated:

Hawaii defensive end David Veikune is building a buzz around himself. The athletic pass rusher is considered a stronger version of Travis LaBoy, another prominent defensive end to come from the Hawaii program.

Stephen Tsai profiles David Farmer.

"He's like (John) Riggins of the Washington Redskins, or Franco (Harris) of Pittsburgh," UH head coach Greg McMackin said of 6-foot-1, 245-pound Farmer. "For a big man, he has good moves."

Farmer demonstrated his quickness in a 9-yard dash into the end zone in Saturday's 38-31 victory over Nevada.

"He doesn't have breakaway speed," McMackin said, "but he has breakaway attitude."

Tsai also has some injury updates and some disgusting details about the broken finger Adam Leonard suffered in the Nevada game.

And Ferd Lewis talks to Jim Donovan about the Cincinnati game, which is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.