#5 Regina Rams (1-0) at #3 Calgary Dinos
Date	Friday, Sept. 8
Time	5:30 pm
Location	McMahon Stadium (Regina, Sask.)
Television	SaskTel maxTV 49/349 | TELUS Optik TV 998/9998 | Bell MTS 1802
Regina Radio	620 CKRM
Internet	CanadaWest.tv ($)
Live Stats	ReginaRams.com | Canada West
Game Notes	Rams | Calgary
Rams on Social Media	Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

HEADLINES
• Friday's game is the premium Week 2 matchup in Canada West, featuring teams that are both coming off Week 1 wins and are ranked highly in this week's U SPORTS Top Ten - Calgary is up one spot to No. 3, while the Rams check in at No. 5.

• The Rams and Calgary play a meaningful contest for the first time since last year's meeting in Regina, which saw the Rams emerge with a 32-27 win thanks to a game-saving forced fumble by now-graduated LB Joey Dwyer.

• Dwyer's successor at the sam linebacker position, rookie Nick Cross, is the reigning Canada West Defensive Player of the Week after a stellar performance in his first career U SPORTS game last week against UBC.

ATLEE SETS SCHOOL RECORD: RB Atlee Simon became the University of Regina's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns last week, collecting the 18th of his career on a short two-yard rumble in the second quarter to move past Rams legend Neal Hughes in the category. Simon is closing in on another school record – that touchdown gave him 24 majors overall in his career, good enough to tie Hughes for second place and just two back of Jason Clermont's record of 26.
 
CROSS NAMED CANADA WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LB Nick Cross became the first Rams rookie to start a season opener right out of high school in nearly a decade last week, and what a start it was. He led all players in the game in tackles, collecting seven solo and two assisted while also recording his first career sack and a pass breakup. Cross was rewarded for his efforts on Tuesday, when the conference named him the Canada West Defensive Player of the Week.
 
PICTON FILE, TAKE 1: The 2016 recipient of the Hec Crighton Trophy as the U SPORTS Player of the Year, QB Noah Picton set a national single-season record last year after compiling 3186 passing yards. Picton, who has the rest of this season and 2018 left with the Rams, is still well back of Teale Orban's school and Canada West records in the three major passing categories – for now. Orban, who starred for the Rams from 2004 to 2008, leads Picton 685 to 536 in career completions, 9449 to 7684 in passing yards, and 76-48 in touchdown passes.
 
PICTON FILE, TAKE 2: SB Mitchell Picton (Noah's first cousin) began his final season with the Rams by collecting a team-high six receptions and leading all players with 120 receiving yards last week, with his best catch coming on a first-quarter play which saw him make a leaping effort to haul in a ball near midfield for a 39-yard gain. Picton is tied for fourth place in school history with 16 career touchdown catches, just one behind third-place Michael Thomas, three behind second-place Jason Clermont, and five behind Chad Goldie's all-time record of 21.
 
LOOKING FOR 2-0: The Rams have been .500 or better in 11 of their 18 seasons at the U SPORTS level, but only twice have they started the Canada West schedule with two straight wins - and that was in back-to-back seasons shortly after making the jump from the junior level. The Rams went 2-0 in 2001 and 2002 as part of 4-0 starts in both of those years.
 
SERIES NOTES: The two teams met only once last year, with the Rams defending home turf with a 32-27 victory over a Dinos team that came into that game ranked No. 2 in the nation. Now-graduated LB Joey Dwyer made the game-saving play for the Rams, hammering Calgary's Jimmy Underdahl as the quarterback was about to scramble for a 12-yard major that would have put the Dinos up with nine seconds to go. That hit jarred the ball loose, and Braedy Will scooped up the fumble in the end zone to seal the win for the Rams. But the season series is slanted Calgary's way - the Dinos have a 17-7 edge in the regular season and a 5-2 advantage in seven postseason games.
 
COSTLY WIN: Though it was a nice season-opening win last Friday over UBC, the victory came at a cost as five players are expected to miss the Calgary game due to injuries sustained against the Thunderbirds – OL Andrew Becker, LB Kaiden Jones, DB Taylor Mayer, DB Jeff Propp, and SB Ryan Schienbein.  But the news isn't all bad on the injury front, as OL Roe Borgmann and DB Royce Hanna will both be available this week after missing the UBC game.
 
DEBUTS: After 13 Rams played in their first U SPORTS game in Week 1, a pair of players will make their debuts in a University of Regina uniform against Calgary. WR Devin Csincsa (Kamloops Broncos) was a CJFL All-Canadian in 2015 and draws into the lineup as a backup at wide receiver, while DB Zach Moore (LeBoldus) was one of the biggest surprises in camp and will travel this week as a backup at defensive halfback.
 
EXHIBITION MEETING: The Rams and the Dinos met in Medicine Hat for an exhibition game back on Aug. 23, marking the third consecutive season that the two teams have met halfway for a preseason contest at the Methanex Bowl. The game was knotted 0-0 after the first quarter before both teams pulled the majority of the starters, and the Rams took a 10-3 lead at halftime before ending up winning 39-3.