KICKOFF: Saturday, Nov. 4 (3:00 PM PDT)
SITE: Thunderbird Stadium (Vancouver, B.C.)
CAPACITY: 8,500
RANKINGS: Regina #9, UBC #6
TELEVISION: Canada West Football Showcase on SaskTel maxTV 48/348 & TELUS Optik TV (Dan Plaster/PxP, Justin Dunk/CC, Andy Neal/host)
REGINA RADIO: 620 CKRM (Mitchell Blair/PxP, Addison Richards/CC)
LIVE VIDEO: www.canadawest.tv ($)
HEADLINES
• Regina and UBC have split their two meetings this season. The Rams won 40-26 in Regina in Week 1, but UBC got even with a 44-15 victory in Vancouver last Saturday which gave the Thunderbirds the right to host this semifinal.
• The winner of Saturday’s Regina/UBC semifinal will advance to the Hardy Cup against the winner of the Calgary/Alberta game.
• With a full season of U SPORTS eligibility still remaining, Atlee Simon became the U of R’s all-time leader in rushing yards last week.
SIMON BECOMES SCHOOL'S ALL-TIME RUSHING YARDS LEADER: After a phenomenal finish to the season, Atlee Simon surpassed Neal Hughes as the U of R's all-time leader in rushing yards last week. Simon finished the regular season with 2943 career rushing yards, nine more than Hughes' total of 2934 that he amassed over his career that spanned from 1999 to 2003. Simon also became the school's leader in touchdown runs and overall touchdowns scored earlier this season.
REMATCH: The Rams and UBC will meet in the postseason for just the second time in history this Saturday. Neither team will have trouble remembering the only other time the teams met in the playoffs - that was just last year, when UBC ended Regina's season with a 40-34 win in Regina to advance to the Hardy Cup. The Rams are 16-12 against UBC in the 28 times they've faced each other in conference games.
FAMILIAR FOES: Due to the schedule rotation and postseason matchups, the Rams have faced UBC more than any other team since head coach Steve Bryce took over last year. This will mark the sixth time they've played the Thunderbirds in the past two seasons, but have only played the other four Canada West teams three times each in that span.
FOUR RAMS NAMED ALL-STARS: The Rams had four players named Canada West all-stars earlier this week, including linebacker Nick Cross, defensive lineman Nicholas Dheilly, quarterback Noah Picton, and running back Atlee Simon. The selections marked the first all-star nods for Cross, Dheilly, and Simon, while Picton earned his second consecutive all-star selection after last season's Hec Crighton performance.
BACK TO BACK: This will mark the fourth time in U of R history that the Rams have played the same team in back-to-back weeks, and the first time the Rams have played the same team in the same location two weeks in a row. The three other times were all against Saskatchewan - in 2001 (L/W), 2007 (W/W), and 2009 (L/L) - in similar Week 8/semifinal situations. The Rams also played Manitoba twice in a row in 2015 (L/L), but the teams had a bye week in between.
BORSA SETS RETURN RECORDS: Rookie Kyle Borsa has been almost solely responsible for the team's return duties this year. He set University of Regina single-season records in both kickoff returns (27) and kickoff return yards (511), both of which were originally set by Chris Ashman in 2000 and 2003, respectively. Borsa led Canada West in both of those categories this season, along with punt returns (31) and punt return yards (212).
DHEILLY TIES SCHOOL RECORDS: Nicholas Dheilly tied two school single-season records this year, including Akiem Hicks' record of 6½ sacks that the current Chicago Bears defensive lineman originally set in 2011. Dheilly also joins a group including Craig Zimmer (2005), Aadon Fieger (2008), and teammate Mason Rossler (2015) with three forced fumbles while also collecting 10½ tackles for loss for a school-record total loss of 58 yards - that edges the previous U of R record of 57, set by Stan Van Sichem in 2007.
RAMS IN THE PROS: The Rams currently have eight players on active professional rosters, including three in the NFL – Akiem Hicks (Chicago), Brett Jones (New York Giants), and Jon Ryan (Seattle). The five University of Regina alumni in the CFL are Kahlen Branning (Winnipeg), Tevaughn Campbell (Montreal), Jorgen Hus (Saskatchewan), Brendon LaBatte (Saskatchewan), and Jeremy Zver (Saskatchewan). There’s also two former U of R players on CFL non-active rosters, including BC’s Jas Dhillon (six-game injured list) and Saskatchewan’s Chris Getzlaf (practice squad).
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