EUGENE, Ore. — Not much more than a few first down passes from here, across the Willamette River, University of Hawai'i football coach Greg McMackin grew up in Springfield.

"This," McMackin said, throwing wide his hands, "was where home was ... until we went to Hawai'i."

The Warriors have headquartered here, a 40-minute drive from Corvallis, site of today's game with Oregon State.

McMackin said he and wife Heather, "moved a whole lot of other places, but this was home until Hawai'i."

McMackin was born in Springfield, graduated from Southern Oregon and got some of his first jobs in the area. The McMackins still have family in the area, they said.

He was the head coach at Aloha High from 1970-1972 and an assistant coach at Western Oregon State.

His first head coaching job came at Oregon Tech, where current offensive coordinator Ron Lee was also coordinator.

"People ask what it was like to win that first game (against Weber State last week)," McMackin said. "And, I tell them, 'It has been business like usual.' But coming back here with all the memories, it is a little more personal."

AUTZEN APPEARANCE

The Warriors, who arrived in Oregon late Thursday night, did a brief walk-through at the University of Oregon's home field, Autzen Stadium yesterday afternoon.

While some players posed and took pictures after practice in the stadium, the oohs and aahs were reserved for the Ducks' $12 million, 102,000 square foot Casanova Center adjacent to the stadium.

"You gotta see this," Ryan Mouton told teammates as the players detoured through the luxuriously appointed pro-style locker room and vast weight training facilities on the way back to their waiting buses.

"Just a little bit better than what we have," said a UH assistant coach, tongue in cheek.

BIG CROWD EXPECTED

The Beavers are expecting today's game to draw the largest crowd in Reser Stadium history for a nonconference opponent.

The current record is 42,876 for Boise State in 2005.

As of late yesterday, OSU was reporting a "limited number" of general public ($36) and stadium club ($200) tickets still available for the game.

The stadium seats 45,674.

UH TICKET REPORT

UH has sold 27,585 season tickets, a 4,600 increase over last year, associate athletic director John McNamara said.

In addition, UH more than doubled its sales of Manoa Maniac memberships to 1,058, McNamara said.

SPARTAN SALES HIGH

Ticket sales for UH's next home game, Sept. 27 against San Jose State, have topped 32,950, McNamara said.

WEATHER REPORT

The weather forecast is for clear skies and temperatures in the low to mid-80s today.