Athletic department offices at the University of Hawai'i are done up in eerie, colorful Halloween motif, intricately carved pumpkins greeting visitors with toothy smiles and faux spiders and cobwebs lurking in corners.

That much has been hard to miss.

What tricks and treats Warriors' football coach Greg McMackin might have in store for Nevada on the sly tonight we can only imagine. And, so, you suspect, must Nevada coach Chris Ault as kickoff nears.

McMackin closed practice to the public this week and with an extra day to prepare, courtesy of the Friday game last week, the lights have been burning late in Manoa. Perhaps in Reno, too.

That's the curious contest within the game they play at 6 tonight at Aloha Stadium.

To be sure the season has reached a point for both teams where it behooves them to go to the far corners of the playbook to stay in the bowl picture. Throwing in the kitchen sink would not be unexpected this week. What would be strange is if, in a pinch, they didn't resort to extraordinary measures.

And pinch and squirm time has clearly arrived. UH is 3-4 (2-2 WAC) and, needing four wins in the final six games to become bowl eligible and earn a place in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl. There aren't a whole lot of tomorrows if the Warriors lose tonight.

Likewise for the Wolf Pack (4-3, 2-1), which probably requires three wins in its final five games, to stay in the running for a school-record fourth consecutive bowl appearance. Unlike UH, the Wolf Pack is wading into the meat of its WAC schedule.

So, call it necessity — or desperation — there should be no holding back in a rare home game where UH is an underdog against a conference opponent on the Las Vegas betting lines (3 1/2 points)

McMackin, in his first season on the major college level, has shown a willingness based upon need to recast things on a weekly basis. Witness the rewriting of the gameplan to better suit quarterback Inoke Funaki's talents. Such flexibility was sufficient to give the Warriors an edge against Fresno State in what stands as UH's signature win of this season.

But Boise State, as has been the Broncos' ability in recent years, was able to adapt to the changes and stay a step ahead by dictating what the Warriors could do. Those solutions are now on tape for all UH's remaining opponents to see, placing the burden back on the Warriors.

So, once again, McMackin and staff have gone back to the laboratory in an effort to keep the Warriors evolving and, hopefully, stay a step ahead.

Can we expect some up-the-sleeve surprises tonight? Some new wrinkles and well-applied trickeration? Probably.

After all, this is definitely the season for it.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.