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THE GAME
The Rams and the Dinos meet for the second time in the last three weeks, as Calgary won the right to host a playoff game with a 35-27 road win over Regina on Oct. 22. The winner of Saturday's semifinal game between these two teams will go on to face either Saskatchewan or Alberta in the Hardy Cup on Nov. 13.

THE HEADLINES
• Calgary won both of the games between the two teams this season, winning 24-21 on Sept. 10 in Calgary and 35-27 in Regina on Oct. 22, and are riding a six-game winning streak over the Rams (the last Rams win over Dinos was on Oct. 6, 2007)
• Calgary and Regina have met in three postseason games, all in the conference semifinals and all at McMahon
• The Rams have a 2-1 record against Calgary in the playoffs, winning in the 2000 and 2002 semifinals and losing in 2008
• The Rams dropped two spots to No. 8 in this week's FRC-CIS Top Ten after last week's loss to Saskatchewan, while Calgary stays steady at No. 5 after its win over Alberta
• Regina has a 6-8 overall record in postseason games
• The Rams have a 4-6 record in road playoff games, but have lost five in a row and haven't won an away postseason contest since their win over Calgary in the 2002 CW semifinals
• The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the Hardy Cup, either on the road against Saskatchewan or at home against Alberta in the event of an upset win for the Golden Bears
• The winner of the Hardy Cup will host the Mitchell Bowl against the AUS champion

UNIVERSITY OF REGINA RAMS (5-3)
Despite the fact that the U of R enters the Canada West playoffs on a two-game losing streak and has lost six consecutive times to the Dinos, there's still reason for optimism for the Rams.

Regina and Calgary have met three times in the postseason since the Rams made the jump to the CIS in 1999. All three of those games have been in the Canada West semifinals and in Calgary, with the Rams winning twice. Their 33-32 win over the Dinos in 2000 was the first postseason victory in what would turn out to be a Vanier Cup appearance for the Rams, while they also won in the 2002 semifinals.

The Rams ended their season last week with a disappointing 52-29 loss to Saskatchewan, but the game wasn't without some sterling individual performances. Marc Mueller threw for 437 yards - his highest single-game total in a conference game - and both Brenden Owens and Jared Janotta hit triple digits in receiving yards for the second consecutive contest.

Jamir Walker returned an interception 58 yards for a major early in the fourth quarter, giving the third-year cornerback his third interception return touchdown of the season. UBC's Mark Norman - who had five in 1986 - is the only Canada West player to record more pick sixes in a single Canada West season than Walker.

Chris Bodnar, who handles both punting and placekicking duties for the Rams, led the conference with an average of 41 yards per punt, over a yard better than second-place Billy Pavlopoulos of UBC. Bodnar also finished third in Canada West with 71 points scored.

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY DINOS (6-2)
Calgary's only two losses this season have come at the hands of the Saskatchewan Huskies. The Dinos are riding a two-game winning streak going into the playoffs, including the win over Regina two weekends ago and last Saturday's 37-5 romp over Alberta.

Quarterback Erik Glavic, a two-time Hec Crighton Award winner, was injured in the Week 1 loss to Saskatchewan but looks to be returning to form after starting the last two games for the Dinos. The ground game is led by Matt Walter, who finished second in the conference with 763 rushing yards and third in Canada West with five touchdown runs.

Nathan Coehoorn had a team-high 416 receiving yards for the Dinos, while Anthony Parker had 22 catches for 367 yards despite missing three games due to injury.

Defensive back Tye Noble led Calgary with 53 tackles and had two interceptions and five pass breakups. Sam Hurl, who was utilized in several positions for the Dinos defence, finished behind Noble with 42 tackles and had a team-high 3½ sacks.

Fifth-year punter/kicker Aaron Ifield, who is the CIS' all-time leader with 71 career field goals made, led Canada West with 78 points scored this season.

Calgary is 11-2 at home in the playoffs, but both losses have come to the Rams. Overall, the Dinos are 22-18 in the postseason. They've won four Vanier Cups and 11 Canada West championships in their history.

REWRITING THE RAMS RECORD BOOK
? Mueller set a Canada West record with 182 completions this season and set a school record with a 65.5% completion rate.
? Walker's five interceptions are the most in one season by a U of R player, and the third-year corner is also tied with Steve Ryan for the school's career interceptions lead (9)
? Adrian Charles set the U of R's single-season rushing record with 972 yards, breaking Neal Hughes' 2003 record of 953

FORMER RAMS IN THE PROS
The list of former University of Regina players now toiling in the professional ranks is led by the Seattle Seahawks' Jon Ryan, who ranked No. 8 in the NFL last season with an average of 46.2 yards per punt.
Seven former University of Regina Rams are now in the CFL, including Chris Bauman (Hamilton), Jason Clermont (Saskatchewan), Chris Getzlaf (Saskatchewan), Neal Hughes (Saskatchewan), Nick Hutchins (Saskatchewan), Brendon LaBatte (Winnipeg), and Jordan Sisco (Saskatchewan).

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