• The Rams are coming off a nice 31-17 road win over Alberta last Saturday, but it wasn't enough as Manitoba's win over Calgary eliminated the U of R from the playoff race.

• The Bisons will most likely finish in either third or fourth place in the Canada West standings and hit the road for the opening round of the playoffs. One scenario exists that has Manitoba finishing in second place but that would require wins by the Bisons over the Rams, by Saskatchewan over Alberta, and by UBC over Calgary. In addition, the Bisons would have to catch up to Calgary in overall point differential, which is currently +61 to +12 in favour of the Dinos.

AT LEIBEL
Friday's game will mark the first time the Rams have ever played a conference game at Leibel Field, though they did host Manitoba there in an exhibition contest in 2018. The only other time the Rams have played a Canada West home game not hosted at either version of Mosaic Stadium was back during the 2006 season, when they beat Calgary 27-3 in a Week 5 game that was played at the U of R Field in abysmal weather conditions. Fortunately, Friday's forecast calls for fine October weather in Regina.

WHITE AT WILL
After stepping right into the lineup last season as a first-year player out of Campbell Collegiate, Josh White has transitioned seamlessly into a starting role for the Rams at will linebacker. White got through for a pair of sacks in the win over Alberta, which sent the Golden Bears back a total of 14 yards. White is the team's leader this year with 36 tackles and also has 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two pass breakups over the team's seven games.

RECEIVER NOTES
The Rams are the only Canada West team to have three players with at least 400 receiving yards. Bennett Stusek, Riley Boersma, and Kyle Moortgat rank sixth, seventh, and eighth in the conference with 440, 431, and 426 yards, respectively, while Ryan Schienbein is just behind them with 395 receiving yards.

RECORD BOOK
Schienbein had a huge game in the Alberta win, hauling in an 80-yard touchdown pass on the very first play from scrimmage and finishing with six catches for 151 yards. Schienbein is now tied for second with current offensive coordinator Mark McConkey on the U of R's all-time list with 180 pass receptions, 11 behind first-place Jared Janotta. With one game left in his U SPORTS career, Schienbein also ranks fourth in both receiving yards (2411) and touchdown catches (18). He trails Janotta (2579), Chad Goldie (2458), and Mitchell Picton (2431) on the school's receiving yards list and is behind Picton (24), Goldie (21), and Jason Clermont (19) in career touchdown catches.

QB1
Josh Donnelly returned to the lineup last week and though he completed only 14 passes, he finished with 339 passing yards as he hit Ryan Schienbein for an 80-yard major  on the first play of the game and Riley Boersma for a 69-yard touchdown in the second. In Donnelly's five starts this season, he's completed 97 of his 162 passes for 1627 yards and eight touchdowns.

TURNOVER TRACKER
The Rams defence forced a pair of turnovers in the Week 7 win over Alberta, and the special teams unit also got into the act when Brandon Brooks stuffed an attempted fake field goal by the Golden Bears. The defence's two turnovers came on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter, first on a third-down gamble which saw Alberta throw an incomplete pass and then on an interception by Brandon Gandire just minutes later. The U of R defence has collected seven interceptions, four fumble recoveries, and three turnovers on downs so far this year.

IN THE FAMILY
The Rams have four sets of brothers on the 2019 roster, including Matt Moore and Zach Moore who are both starters for the U of R defence. The other three sets of siblings include Chase Ellingson and Cody Ellingson, Jesse Ens and Jared Ens, and Carson Sombach and Jackson Sombach. As well, Donnelly and starting wide receiver Daniel Scraper are first cousins.

AGAINST MANITOBA
The two teams met earlier this year in Winnipeg, a game which was decided on a 39-yard Matt Riley field goal with no time on the clock to give the Bisons a one-point win. Manitoba holds a 20-13 advantage in the 33 Canada West games played between the two teams, while the Rams are 9-7 against the Bisons in Regina.