FALL RIVER -- Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly ended a roller coaster of a final week of the race on an upswing yesterday, telling everyone he met in a tour of Southeastern Massachusetts that the voters were moving his way.

``It's happening Paul, I can feel it," Reilly said yesterday to Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh in the doorway of a gritty veterans' post in Fall River. ``I can feel it every place we go."

After a disappointing showing in the debate the week before last and a new round of polls indicating him trailing far behind his opponents, Reilly seemed to turn a corner last week. He delivered a crisp performance in the final debate of the campaign, pressing his case for an income tax cut and rattling rival Deval Patrick by questioning his support of a crime bill. Even when two millionaires, Christopher Gabrieli and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, battled it out on the airwaves, Reilly seemed undaunted.

At a fund-raiser for about 300 friends and supporters at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, he said he relished the role of underdog.

``I've been beating the odds all my life, and I'll beat 'em again," he told the crowd. ``We're in a fight. I know it and you know it. You know what? I like fights. I like fighting, and I like winning."

The crowd laughed, a little uncertainly.

``I shouldn't admit it, but I love it. I absolutely love it," he said.

Yesterday as he traveled around Fall River, wearing a tattersall shirt and no tie, he drilled home his central argument: that he is the candidate for the working people of Massachusetts, the only candidate in the gubernatorial campaign, except for Green Rainbow candidate Grace Ross, who is not a millionaire.

``They know I'm one of them," he said.

At the AMVETS & Auxiliary Post 60, where City Council president William Whitty was having a chicken barbecue fund-raiser, Reilly made his way around the smoky bar overlooking the Taunton River, as post members sipped beer from plastic cups and watched the Boston College vs. Brigham Young University football game.

Between handshakes, Reilly, a fervent Boston College fan, stole a glance at the screen to check the score.

``I'm voting for you," said Norbert Robidoux, the post's quartermaster, with a wide grin. ``I like that you live in a two-family apartment."

Robert Brough, a history and psychology teacher at Durfee High School and a member of the post, told Reilly he had no textbooks and as many as 34 students in each class.

``I'm trying to get them ready for college and I can't give them homework because they have no textbooks," Brough said. ``You want my vote, just say one thing: `Every kid will have a textbook.' "

``Every kid will have a textbook," Reilly promised, with a firm nod. ``Every kid will have a textbook."

Reilly is relying on the support of local politicians, moderate and conservative Democrats, and union members on primary election day.

Reilly has 16 mayors, including Thomas M. Menino of Boston, five sheriffs and four district attorneys working for him, as well as 16 unions representing 100,000 workers across the state.

Mayor Ed Lambert, who accompanied Reilly around his city yesterday, said his supporters liked Reilly's commitment to extending the commuter rail and his opposition to a liquefied natural gas facility nearby.

``Our campaign organizations are geared up and ready to go," he said. ``They have no trouble transferring their loyalty to Tom Reilly."

Late yesterday afternoon, flanked by Lambert, Walsh, Representative Robert Correia and Senator Joan M. Menard, Reilly exhorted about 100 volunteers at a hot dog roast and rally to bring five friends with them to the polls.

``We're just regular people, but we are the heart and soul of this state, and this state is going to hear from us on Tuesday," he said.

Though the polls haven't registered a reversal of fortune for Reilly, he said he was undaunted. He repeated a story he told over and over again the last week, about his 1998 race for attorney general. Exit polls on Election Day showed him losing by eight points, he said.

``I won by six."

Thomas Reilly

Favorite movie: Braveheart.

Favorite article of clothing: A blue and gray state police sweatsuit.

Top three albums: All that You Can’t Leave Behind, U2; mix tapes made by his daughters.

How I would fix the Red Sox in ’07: ‘‘I’d make sure Jason Varitek was healthy. He’s the heart and soul of that team, he has had a lifetime of knee problems, he needs to rest it

and make sure he’s fit for next season.’’

Guilty pleasure: Strawberry ice cream sundaes. ‘‘It can be a problem.’’