MOSCOW — Four years of dedication and determination under coach Paul Petrino have paid off for the Idaho football team with its selection to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Sunday. The Vandals (8-4) will take on Colorado State (7-5) of the Mountain West Conference on Dec. 22 (4 p.m., ESPN) at Albertsons Stadium in Boise.

Tickets are available online now and over the phone or in person at the Idaho ticket office Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. PST.

The tenets Petrino, in his fourth year as Vandals coach preaches and by which his players conduct themselves are the stepping stones to the success of the 2016 team, which finished 6-2 in the Sun Belt Conference — good enough for a tie for third in the league and one of six bowl bids garnered by the league.

“I’m very proud of our assistant coaches,” said Petrino, who guided the Vandals to their first bowl game since 2009 and their best regular-season record since 2009 when they were 7-5. “They’ve done an outstanding job.

“I’m very proud of our leadership from our players. Our seniors, what a great way for them to finish their careers – especially the guys who have been here four years with me. We went through some tough times.”

In December 2012 Petrino took over a program that was 3-21 over the previous two seasons. His first two seasons the Vandals were 2-21. In 2015, the Vandals started to show the progress he envisioned with a 4-8 finish, which included three losses by one touchdown or less. They started 2016 1-2 after playing at two Top-25 teams — Washington State and fourth-ranked Washington. They settled in with a road victory at UNLV and then hit conference play and wound up winning six of their last seven games and seven of their final nine.

“It was really a great lesson in life for them — as long as you stick to your core values and keep working hard and keep grinding and doing everything to your very best ability, eventually you end up being successful,” Petrino said. “Hopefully that is something they can carry over to life. If they just keep grinding and keep working hard and doing things right and choosing character, they’ll end up being successful.”

Idaho is headed to its third bowl game since moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1996. All three of those bowl games have been in Boise, and the Vandals were winners in their first two bowl trips (the 1998 Humanitarian Bowl, under coach Chris Tormey, and the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl, with Robb Akey as coach).

“We are very excited about this year’s matchup between the University of Idaho and Colorado State University,” said Kevin McDonald, Executive Director of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. “It will be great to host Idaho for the third time with its great local and regional fan base. They always bring excitement to the city of Boise. We are also thrilled to welcome Colorado State for the first time and look forward to its electric offense.”

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is one of 13 owned and operated postseason bowl games by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

Colorado State leads the all-time series with Idaho 4-3. The teams last met in 2010 when the Rams defeated the Vandals 36-34 in Fort Collins. Idaho finished 6-7 that season.

The Rams, under second-year coach Mike Bobo, closed the regular season with a win over 10-3 Mountain West champion San Diego State (63-31) on the road following a win over 8-4 New Mexico (49-31) at home. CSU is averaging 47.4 points and 520.6 yards per game over the last five games and has outscored opponents by a combined 172-62 in the first half over that stretch.

Colorado State won four of its last five games, and five of its last seven, to secure its fourth consecutive bowl invitation.

“Our football team has consistently improved throughout this season by the way they have worked and learned to compete, and I believe we are playing our best football late in the season,” Bobo said.

Washington State

The Washington State Cougars accepted an invitation to play in the Holiday Bowl, Tuesday, Dec. 27, at 4 p.m. PST on ESPN, Holiday Bowl Executive Director Mark Neville announced Sunday.

The Holiday Bowl will feature the Cougars (8-4) against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-4) from the Big Ten Conference. The Cougars are 3-2 all-time against Minnesota, with the last meeting coming in 1988, a 41-9 WSU victory in Minneapolis.

Under fifth-year head coach Mike Leach, the Cougars finished the regular season 8-4 overall, 7-2 in the Pac-12 play, the second straight season WSU posted an 8-4 record prior to the bowl game. The Cougars’ 7-2 conference mark is its best since 2003, when WSU went 10-3 overall, 7-2 in Pac-10 play.

“Washington State is delighted to be invited to the National Funding Holiday Bowl,” WSU athletic director Bill Moos said. “Both coach Leach and I have participated in this fabulous event in the past and have experienced first-hand the tremendous hospitality of the Red Coats and the wonderful city of San Diego.”

Washington State is making its second-straight bowl appearance, and third overall, in Leach’s five years, a first for a Cougar head coach. It also marks the 13th overall bowl game for the Cougar program. Last season WSU defeated Miami, 20-14, in the Sun Bowl. Previously WSU has played in the Rose Bowl (1916, 1931, 1998, 2003), the Holiday Bowl (1981, 2003), the Aloha Bowl (1988), the Copper Bowl (1992), the Alamo Bowl (1994), the Sun Bowl (2001, 2015) and the 2013 New Mexico Bowl. The Cougars are 7-5 in bowl games all time.

“We are thrilled to be going to the Holiday Bowl,” Leach said. “It is going to be a great matchup against two great teams. The last time we were in the Holiday Bowl we had a tremendous experience and expect the same this time around.”

The Cougars are making their third appearance in the Holiday Bowl, having lost to No. 14 Brigham Young in 1981 and defeating No. 5 Texas in 2003. In the 1981 contest, WSU trailed 31-7 early in the second half before making a strong comeback with four second-half scores, coming up just shy in a 38-36 game. In 2003, the Cougar defense registered seven sacks and a safety, while the offense had three third-quarter scores to lead WSU to its third-straight 10-win season.

Tickets for the 2016 Holiday Bowl may be ordered through wsucougars.com. Fans may also call the Cougar Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-COUGS starting at 9 a.m. thie morning. Cougar Athletic Fund members will receive purchase priority through 5 p.m. Monday. Ticket information is also available at www.sandiegobowlgames.com.