HONOLULU, Hawaii -- USC offensive lineman Gino Quinones is used to people guessing wrong about his ethnicity -- whether it be because of appearance or his name -- but he emphasized this week how much it means to him to be competing in the Polynesian Bowl on Saturday night.

"Not too many people know I'm Polynesian. I'm excited to return to Aloha Stadium. ... I'm just excited to be back home," he said.

Quinones said his mother's side of the family is Samoan while his father is Hawaiian and the family name originates from Portuguese.

"I'm more Samoan. Not too many people see it. ... My Polynesian side is Samoan and Hawaiian," he said. "A lot of people get confused what I am. When I went up to USC people thought I was Mexican and Italian."

He laughs as he says that.

"I'm used to it, honestly. My name is Gino -- that's Italian. But everybody down here in Hawaii, they know I'm Hawaiian and Samoan," he added. "I just kind of laugh at it. I represent what I am, I'm proud of what I am."

There was also some confusion as to what Quinones would be at USC -- he was recruited as an offensive lineman, but he didn't play the position in high school while instead operating on the defensive side of the line. And he had expressed interest in talking with new Trojans defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a to see if he might still have a future on the D-line, as Kauha'aha'a recruited him for that spot while at Boise State.

But Quinones set the record straight on that matter this week.

"At USC my primary position is going to be offensive line -- more of the interior side, so guard, maybe center," he said. "Coach Chad, me and him established a relationship when he was at Boise State, so maybe on short distances I can [contribute on D]. It's whatever the coaches want."

Quinones, who was rated a 3-star prospect and stands 6-foot-3, 280 pounds, signed with USC in December and enrolled early, meaning he's already spent some time on campus as a student before flying back to Hawaii for this game.

So far, so good, he said.

"Everybody's super friendly. Nobody's still thinking they're that 5-star from high school. So I'm really enjoying it. I'm super comfortable there," he said.

He also has developed a strong relationship with USC offensive line coach Tim Drevno. It started near the end of the recruiting process, as Drevno visited Quinones and his family in Hawaii, and it's only gotten stronger since he arrived on campus.

"I trust him helping me with the transition. He's done this before," Quinones said. "... I'm not too worried about the transition. Not to many people know I played this [growing up]. Offensive line was actually my primary position because I was always the bigger kid on the team. Once I got to high school, I chose defense because I just love to hit people, but once you get to this level everybody's hitting each other. So it doesn't matter where I play. As long as I'm playing the game of football I'm fine."

Quinones played through a broken hand this high school season and he feared it might prevent him from taking part in the Polynesian Bowl, but he received clearance to play with hand taped or with a soft cast.

So he'll be on the field Saturday night (9 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network), officially closing his high school football career and representing his culture in a game that holds a lot of personal significance.

"Definitely it means something to me. I'm excited to be here," he said. "It's honestly just an honor to be here. A lot of people wanted to be in this game."