Complete Game Notes

KICKOFF: Saturday, Nov. 1 (2:00 p.m.)
SITE: Mosaic Stadium (Regina, Sask.)

CAPACITY: 33,427
RANKINGS: Alberta NR, Regina NR

TELEVISION: Access7 (Mitchell Blair/PxP, Gary "Chop" Bresch/CC)
REGINA RADIO: 620 CKRM (Michael Ball/PxP, Marco Ricci/CC)

LIVE VIDEO: www.canadawest.tv

• The Rams can enter the playoffs with either one of two scenarios - they can beat Alberta by at least two points combined with Manitoba (vs. Calgary) and Saskatchewan (at UBC) wins to finish fourth, or they can beat Alberta by at least 19 points combined with Calgary and UBC wins to finish third
• As well as being the final Canada West home game for retiring head coach Frank McCrystal, this will also be the last one for seven Rams in their final season of CIS eligibility - Landon Buch, Dillon Dawson, Justin Edralin, Patrick MacDonald, Jared Janotta, Cayman Shutter, and Dean Viena

SCOREBOARD WATCHING: The two other Week 8 Canada West games will also be played on Saturday - and both will help decide whether or not the Rams will reach the postseason with a victory over Alberta:
• If Calgary and UBC both win on Saturday, the Rams will finish in third place in the Canada West standings if they defeat Alberta by at least 19 points - the Rams would then play at Saskatchewan in the Canada West semifinals (Nov. 7, 7 p.m.)
• If Manitoba and Saskatchewan both win on Saturday, the Rams will finish in fourth place in the Canada West standings if they defeat Alberta by at least two points - they would then travel to Calgary for a Canada West semifinal game (Nov. 8, 2 p.m.)
• The Calgary/Manitoba game kicks off at 1 p.m. Saskatchewan time, with the Saskatchewan/UBC game scheduled for a 3 p.m. start

JANOTTA WATCH: Jared Janotta became Canada West's all-time leader in receptions last game, surpassing former teammate Mark McConkey's old record of 180. He's now got 183 with one conference game remaining in his career, which is the ninth-highest total in CIS history (see right). Janotta is also close to Chad Goldie's University of Regina record of 2458 career receiving yards, as he needs just 28 more to pass that mark.

RICHARDS REPORT: Addison Richards now has 49 catches for 803 yards this season, leading Canada West in both categories and ranking second in the nation with an average of 114.7 receiving yards per game. Richards is within reach of a pair of school single-season receiving records, including Goldie's receptions mark (54 in 2007) and Chris Bauman's yards record (923 in 2006). He's also only 10 catches away from the Canada West single-season record of 59 shared by Calgary's Josh Borger (1983) and Alberta's Tylor Henry (2013).

RAMS IN THE PROS: The Rams currently boast three former players in the NFL, including P Jon Ryan (Seattle), DL Akiem Hicks (New Orleans), and DL Stefan Charles (Buffalo). Four University of Regina products are currently on CFL active rosters, including OL Brett Jones with Calgary and SB Chris Getzlaf and OL Brendon LaBatte with Saskatchewan. FB Neal Hughes remains on Saskatchewan's six-game injured list, while SB Chris Bauman was added to Calgary's practice roster on Wednesday and DL Micheal Dadzie (Ottawa), OL Chris Mercer (Edmonton), and DL Ryan Wellman (Saskatchewan) are also on practice rosters.

CONFERENCE LEADERS: Richards leads Canada West in two major receiving categories including receptions (49) and receiving yards (774), while Noah Picton's 104-yard pass to Mitch Thompson last game stands as the longest play from scrimmage in a conference game this season. Defensive end Tyler Perkins also leads the conference with three fumble recoveries.

QUARTERBACKS
• First-year QB Noah Picton is expected to get his third start of the season - he was 17-for-24 last game for 368 yards and three TDs after replacing Cayman Shutter in the second quarter
• Picton has a 63.2% completion rate this year and has 1562 passing yards and 10 TDs
• Shutter was injured in Saturday's game while scrambling for a career-long 51-yard gain, the longest run by a quarterback in the Rams' history at the CIS level
• Frankie Gray is third on the depth chart at QB, while fourth-year SB Landon Buch usually serves as the team's quarterback in short-yardage situations

RUNNING BACKS
• Rookie RB Atlee Simon had a spectacular outing in last week's win over Manitoba, earning CIS Offensive Player of the Week honours after tying school records with three TD runs and four TDs scored overall and ending up with 243 all-purpose yards (156 rushing, 87 receiving)
• Despite only starting two games this year, Simon has a team-high 419 rushing yards and four TD rushes
• Backing up Simon will be fifth-year RB Dillon Dawson, who returned to the lineup last week after missing the UBC game due to an injury - Dawson has 29 rushes for 155 yards this season
• Also dressing will be Jens Johnson, who has 22 carries for 127 yards and a TD

WIDE RECEIVERS
• Fourth-year WR Addison Richards leads Canada West with 49 catches and 803 receiving yards this season and also has a team-high five TD catches - Richards has gone registered over 100 yards in five of the team's seven conference games
• Second-year WR Mitch Thompson connected with Picton for a 104-yard touchdown last week, the third-longest play from scrimmage in U of R history - Thompson is third on the Rams with 26 catches and fourth with 308 receiving yards
• Richard Sindani will also dress - the second-year WR has five catches for 55 yards

SLOTBACKS
• Fifth-year SB Jared Janotta had seven catches for 109 yards last week to set Canada West's all-time receptions record
• Third-year SB Riley Wilson has started all seven games for the Rams - he's got 21 catches for 330 yards
• With fifth-year SB Landon Buch banged up last week, Mitchell Picton got his second start of the season and had two TD catches - Picton now has 11 catches on the year, four of which have been for touchdowns
• Buch remains questionable this week, so Picton is likely to start for the second consecutive game with second-year players Andrew Bennett and Davin Johnston as backups

OFFENSIVE LINE
• The Rams have gone with the same starting five on the line in each of the last six games and that shouldn't change this weekend, with Jeremy Zver (LT), Kyle Paterson (LG), Aaron Picton (C), Tristain Hoath (RG), and Matt Degelman (RT) expected to start again on Saturday against Alberta
• Picton, who will be eligible for the 2015 CFL Draft, is the team's most experienced lineman with 18 career Canada West starts and two postseason starts
• Also a post on the U of R's basketball team, Zver will make his 16th consecutive start at left tackle for the Rams
• Degelman comes into Saturday with 14 career starts, while Paterson has 13
• Keenan Carrier, Nathan Cugnet, and Brandon Williams will also dress on Saturday

DEFENSIVE LINE
• The Rams made their first change to the line last week with Dean Viena injured - rookie Eric Wicijowski stepped in to start at rush end with Bryce McKinnon still at nose tackle and Tyler Perkins at defensive end
• Perkins tied a school record with his third career blocked kick last Saturday - he also leads Canada West with three fumble recoveries this season to go along with 15 tackles, three TFLs, two forced fumbles, and a sack
• Viena has a team-leading two sacks this year, but remains questionable for Saturday
• McKinnon has 14½ tackles (9 solo, 11 assisted) and one tackle for loss this year
• Wicijowski could start for the second consecutive game in place of Viena - the rookie had a 10-yard sack last game had has 7½ tackles on the season
• Depending on the status of Viena, the Rams could also dress second-year man Thomas Lill or rookie Brad Sich

LINEBACKERS
• The Rams went with the same starting linebackers for the third consecutive game last week with Zack McEachern at SLB, Connor Ketchen at MLB, and Michael Stefanovic at WLB
• Stefanovic is the team's leading tackler (25 solo, 18 assisted) and also has three TFLs
• McEachern stepped into the starting lineup for the Calgary game and has a team-leading 21 tackles in the last three games
• Ketchen has 22½ tackles this season including 2½ TFLs, while Minshull started the first four games of the year and has 26 tackles including 3½ TFLs and 1½ sacks
• Ketchen and Minshull were teammates in high school (Neelin HS in Brandon, Man.)
• Cody Kezama (7 tackles) and rookie Danny Nesbitt (3 tackles) have also dressed for all seven Canada West games - the coaches hinted Thursday that one of them could possibly see an expanded role against Alberta
• Julius Landry will also likely dress for the fourth time this season

DEFENSIVE BACKS
• The Rams are expected to go with the same starters at safety (Justin Edralin), dimeback (Joey Dwyer), and halfback (Patrick MacDonald and Jeff Propp)
• Injuries could force a change at CB, as Kahlen Branning and Kadeem Ellis had to step in to replace starters Tevaughn Campbell and Ryan Serbu due to injuries
• Both Campbell and Serbu are listed as questionable for the weekend, so Branning or Ellis - or both - could very well step into the starting lineup against the Bisons
• Jordy Kibamba, Korey Greene, and possibly rookie Dilan Elgert will also dress for Saturday's game
• MacDonald now has a team-high two interceptions this season, while Dwyer, Edralin, and Serbu each have one
• Dwyer also has the defensive backfield's only sacks of the year - he's got 1½ sacks and is also tied with MacDonald for second on the team with 31½ tackles
• MacDonald also leads the team with eight pass breakups, while Dwyer and Campbell have four apiece

PUNTERS/KICKERS
• Andrew Fabian is 11-for-15 on FG attempts this season and is averaging 38.8 yards per punt for the Rams
• With Atlee Simon essentially taking over the ground game, rookie Daniel Scraper will likely dress and handle kickoff duties for the Rams

RETURNERS
• Mitch Thompson has 13 punt returns for an average of 8.8 yards per atttempt and is the team's leading kickoff returner with 14 returns for an average of 23.4 yards
• Catlin Schneider should also play a large role in the return game - he averages 22.6 yards per kickoff return and 4.5 yards per punt return