• The Rams moved up one spot in the national rankings to No. 6 thanks to a 32-24 victory over Calgary last Friday in the U of R's home opener.

• This matchup features the only two remaining undefeated Canada West teams. Saturday will mark the first time in history that the Huskies and the Rams will clash beyond Week 2 with both teams still holding a perfect record.

• With Saskatchewan ranked No. 2 and the Rams at No. 6, the two teams head into Saturday's game with the highest cumulative national ranking in matchup history. The previous mark was set in 2010 (#3 Saskatchewan defeated #6 Regina 52-29 on Oct. 29) and matched in 2016 (#4 Regina defeated #5 Saskatchewan 37-29 on Oct. 1).

• Saturday's game will mark the first ever football matchup as part of the U Prairie Challenge, an annual all-sports competition pitting the U of R against the U of S. The teams are currently tied in the challenge standings thanks to a 3-3 draw in women's soccer between the Cougars and the Huskies in Saskatoon. The winner of Saturday's game will add a half point to their school's total for the year.

• It will also be the final game of Football Weekend in Saskatchewan, which starts with the Saskatchewan Roughriders hosting the Edmonton Elks on Friday night and continues with the Regina Thunder playing the Saskatoon Hilltops on Saturday afternoon.

BENNETT BRILLIANCE: DL Anthony Bennett followed up his monster Week 1 performance with an equally impressive outing in Week 2. He had a 28-yard pick six, registered another sack, recorded a fumble recovery, and added a half tackle for loss in the win over Calgary to end up with Canada West Defensive Player of the Week honours for the second week in a row. Bennett leads Canada West and is second in the nation (behind Carleton's Shaiheem Charles-Brown) with four sacks, and is already threatening the U of R single-season record of 6.5 sacks which is shared by Akiem Hicks (2011) and Nicholas Dheilly (2017).

MATCHUP NOTES: Saturday will mark the 36th Canada West game and the 41st overall between the Rams and the Huskies. It will be the 12th time in history (including postseason) that the two teams will play each other with both teams nationally ranked, with the Rams holding a 7-4 edge in those contests. The Rams will be looking to put the brakes on a four-game losing slide to the Huskies, as their last win over the U of S came in a 50-40 barnburner back in September of 2017.

BALL HAWKS: The Rams are one of only two teams in the nation to average two interceptions per game. They've collected a pair of picks in both wins so far, with all four interceptions recorded by different players as DL Anthony Bennett, DB Jaxon Ford, DB Donovin Small, and LB Ryder Varga have all got in on the fun so far. Laval is the other team, as the No. 4-ranked Rouge et Or have six picks through their first three contests.

TOP TARGETS: The Rams have three receivers in triple digits for receiving yards through the first two games of the season. SB Bennett Stusek ranks sixth in Canada West with 151, SB D'Sean Mimbs is tied for seventh with 148, and WR Riley Boersma has piled up exactly 100. A total of 23 of QB Noah Pelletier's 32 completions have been to those three players.

QUICK START FOR VARGA: Selected by the BC Lions in the third round of last spring's CFL Draft, LB Ryder Varga is off to another good start for the Rams. The fourth-year mac linebacker is tied with LB Josh White for the team lead in tackles (8.5) and has also collected an interception, blocked a kick in Week 1 that led to a Jaxon Ford touchdown, and has a half tackle for loss.

DEBUT: The Rams will add LB Ryan Mills to the lineup for his first career Canada West game. Mills, a Regina Thunder product, is expected to back up at linebacker and contribute on special teams. He'll be the first player from nearby Southey to suit up for the Rams since OL Devin Hillier wrapped up his Rams career in 2010.

IRON MAN: The most experienced player on the Rams roster is DB Zach Moore, who (including the postseason) has played in 32 career games and has started 31 consecutive games at halfback. Moore is third on the team with 7.5 tackles and had a pass breakup in last week's win over Calgary.

ON THE LINE: The Rams had one change on the line last week as OL Austin Van De Sype stepped in at right guard with OL Parker Hodel still nursing an injury from Week 1. Hodel is considered probable for Week 3 game with OL Matthew Hajewich, OL Damon Iron, OL Maguire Abell, and OL Joel Braden slated to start again at left tackle, left guard, centre, and right tackle, respectively.

ALDO UPDATE: Veteran K Aldo Galvan continues to punt the ball well, averaging 43.1 yards on his eight punts in the Calgary game and pinning the Dinos inside their 20 on four separate occasions. Galvan is fifth in the nation in average yards per punt (43.8) and second in all of U SPORTS in punts inside the 20-yard line (7). He also now has 192 career points and needs just 7 more to surpass Jon Ryan for second on the U of R's scoring list (Perri Scarcelli is the all-time leader with 294 points scored).

A LOOK AHEAD: The Rams have already signed four Grade 12 players to a U SPORTS Letter of Intent for the 2023 season. That group includes OL Mackenzie Hills-Craig (Moose Jaw/Central), WR Hudson South (Melfort/MUCC), DL Tanner Weir (Balgonie/Greenall), and DL Matthew Zeiler (Regina/Winston Knoll).