Less than a half an hour after Nevada's win over Hawaii on Saturday night, Jay Norvell was asked if he had to wait longer than expected to secure his first victory as a head coach.

“I absolutely thought we’d have it before now, but things happen for a reason," Norvell said. "We had eight of our top recruits in for this weekend. It was a great weekend to have them. It was a beautiful fall day in Reno and a great night for football at Mackay. Those are kids that we feel are program-changing type recruits."

Less than 36 hours later, three of those prospects committed to Nevada.

Running back Devonte Lee, from Oklahoma City, Okla., and defensive end Crishaun Lappin, from Las Vegas, both committed Sunday night. Defensive backs Delano Ware, from El Cerrito, Calif., and Emany Johnson, from Hercules, Calif., pledged to the Wolf Pack on Monday.

Verbal commitments aren't binding until players sign their official letter of intent in early February, but the recent additions put the Wolf Pack's class of 2018 recruiting haul in the mid-20s (full list here).

"I'm excited about our recruiting," said Norvell, who is prohibited from commenting on specific recruits until they sign their letter of intent. "We only have three spots left. We have a really good staff of recruiters. They know where the players are. A lot of guys we are recruiting are guys who (other schools) are going to find out about. We've gotten out early, identified who we want and people will come on them in the next month and we'll just have to fight like crazy to hold onto them."

The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Lee is an unrated recruit who had offers from a number of FCS school plus Navy, Central Michigan and North Texas. He has been one of the most productive backs in the nation the last two seasons. As a junior, he rushed for 2,946 yards and 37 touchdowns. In five games of his senior season, he has 852 rushing yards and 14 scores.

The 6-foot, 250-pound Lappin has 23 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble this season. He's scored two touchdowns as a fullback. Lappin is the first commitment in Nevada's 2018 class to come from Las Vegas. He attends Liberty High. He is listed as a two-star recruit who had offers from UTEP and Northern Arizona.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Ware also is a two-star recruit who held offers from Air Force and UC Davis. He's an excellent athlete who has recorded a 4.4-second 40-yard dash and a broad jump of 9 feet, 6 inches while putting up impressive lifting numbers.

The 6-2, 190-pound Johnson rushed 11 times for 185 yards and a touchdown; caught 37 passes for 984 yards and nine touchdowns; and had 62 tackles, six interceptions, recovered two fumbles and forced another as a junior last season.

"The kids who have committed to us love our coaches, they love our campus, they love our academics and how kids are serious about school here," Norvell said. "That's a huge selling points to all of the parents and families. There are so many positives we can sell. Recruiting is going very well."

Norvell said the staff will hit the recruiting trail this week before the Colorado State game and will be out again after next week's game against Air Force, which is followed by the Wolf Pack's lone bye of the season.

WOLF PACK GETTING BANGED UP

Nevada's injury list is piling up. It includes starters RB Jaxson Kincaide (knee), LG Anthony Palomares (concussion), TE Brandon Scott (concussion) and S Jaden Sawyer (ankle) as well as backup RB Maliek Broady (ankle).

None of those players practiced in full Monday. Scott and Sawyer both missed the Hawaii game while Kincaide, Palomares and Broady were injured during the game.

Kincaide didn't practice at all Monday. Neither did Broady, who was in a boot. That has severely thinned Nevada's depth at running back. But are questionable for Saturday's game at Colorado State.

"Jaxson twisted his knee a little bit and we're not sure how much he'll be available and Malik hurt his ankle," Norvell said. "We're a little bit dinged up. It's that time of year where you get bruised up and the only guys who aren't sore are the ones who haven't played much."

Palomares was taken off the field on a cart in the fourth quarter after an apparent knee injury, but Norvell said it was in fact a concussion. He did not appear at practice Monday.

"He got dinged a little bit," Norvell said. "We'll see how he'll respond the rest of the week."

Scott returned to partial practice and is trending toward playing against Colorado State. Sawyer also practiced partially.

MOORE NAMED PLAYER OF WEEK

After a record-breaking game against Hawaii, running back Kelton Moore was named the MW offensive player of the week, garnering the first honor for a Nevada player this season.

The sophomore from Arlington, Texas rushed for 216 yards on 16 carries. He also caught five passes for 46 yards and a touchdown. The 216 yards are the 15th most in a game in Nevada history, including the eighth most in the Wolf Pack's FBS era (since 1992).

Moore played in relief of Kincaide, who hurt his knee early in he first quarter.

"I just told the team that Kelton wasn't even the starter and just was preparing himself to play and play well, and that's a credit to not only him but the entire offense and the offensive line for doing a great job for him," Norvell said. "I'm really proud of him."