• The University of Regina Rams won the right to host the Mitchell Bowl with a 19-14 road win last weekend over Saskatchewan. They'll take on the Laval Rouge et Or, who outlasted Montreal for a 22-17 win in the RSEQ Dunsmore Cup in Quebec City.

• The winner of Saturday's Regina/Laval matchup advances to the Vanier Cup next weekend, to be hosted by Queen's in Kingston, Ont. They'll play the winner of the Uteck Bowl, which pits Wilfrid Laurier against Bishop's in Sherbrooke, Que.

ALL-TIME SERIES: The two teams met once on Sept. 29, 2002 in a rare midseason non-conference game, but have never before met in the postseason. That 2002 game happened when Regina travelled to play Laval during a bye week for both teams. The Rams took a 14-0 lead off early touchdowns by Jon Ryan and Neal Hughes, but ended up losing 33-14 to the Rouge et Or.

CONFERENCE CHAMPS: The Rams' BioSteel Hardy Cup win last weekend over Saskatchewan gave them their first Canada West championship since 2000. And there are striking similarities between the U of R's 2000 and 2024 squads. Both teams had to defeat Alberta in their final regular season game of the year just to make the postseason. Both teams then went on to win on the road in the Canada West semifinals - over Calgary by a 33-32 score thanks to Jon Ryan's legendary rouge with no time left on the clock in 2000, and over Manitoba two weeks ago by a 28-25 score in a game which featured QB Noah Pelletier leading the Rams on an 11-play, 101-yard drive for the game-winning strike to WR Nicholas Sirleaf with 19 seconds remaining. The two teams then both won the Hardy Cup on the road in thrilling close finishes. 2000 saw Darryl Leason hit Neal Hughes for a 10-yard touchdown with eight seconds left to give the Rams a 25-22 win over Manitoba, and the 2024 edition used a third-quarter pick six by Carson Sombach (more on that below) to take a 19-14 win over Saskatchewan.

BACK IN THE BOWLS: The Rams return to a national semifinal bowl for the first time since winning the Atlantic Bowl in 2000. The Rams went on the road to defeat Saint Mary's in that game in Halifax, winning 40-36 over the Blake Nill-coached Huskies on the strength of two clutch late touchdowns by Neal Hughes and Chris Warnecke.

HOSTING CONSIDERATIONS: Saturday will mark the first time that the University of Regina has hosted a national semifinal bowl. It will be the third Mitchell Bowl in this province but the first in nearly two decades since the University of Saskatchewan hosted in both 2004 and 2005. This game will mark the 11th time that a Canada West school has hosted the Mitchell Bowl since its inaugural contest in 2002.

HISTORICAL PICK SIX: DB Carson Sombach's 46-yard interception return turned out to be the game-winning score in last week's BioSteel Hardy Cup win over Saskatchewan. It was just the second postseason defensive touchdown in U of R history and the first since 2001, when Chris Ashman had a 55-yard pick six in a Canada West semifinal win over Saskatchewan - exactly one week after Sombach was born.

2000 CONNECTIONS: Rams first-year LB Owen Zimmer's father (Jeff Zimmer) and uncle (Craig Zimmer) were both linebackers on the 2000 squad that was the last Rams team to hoist the Hardy Trophy. Also on the defensive side of the ball that season was a young Sheldon Gray, a second-year defensive back who is now the coordinator of the Rams' formidable defence.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK SWEEP: The Rams swept last week's Canada West Player of the Week awards in the wake of their win over Saskatchewan. QB Noah Pelletier was 23-for-33 for 228 yards and a touchdown, DB Carson Sombach had that pivotal third-quarter pick six, and K Isaac Wegner hit a 29-yard field goal while averaging 41 yards per punt.

KATENDE KEY AGAIN: RB Christian Katende nearly hit triple digits in rushing again in the win over Saskatchewan, finishing with 19 carries for 98 yards. Through six games this year, Katende had 11 rushes for 52 yards before absolutely exploding in Week 8 against Alberta. In the last three games, Katende has piled up 51 carries for a total of 374 rushing yards including 228 against Alberta - the third-highest single-game total in school history.

SENIORS: The Rams expect to have three players in their fifth and final seasons of U SPORTS eligibility in the lineup on Saturday. All of them are starters including OL Parker Hodel at right guard, LB Cameron Mah at mac linebacker, and DB Jackson Sombach at hawk halfback.

TRUE FROSH: Three players have jumped right out of high school into the lineup for the Rams this year. SB Renzel Arinaza (Terry Fox Secondary), LB Liam LaBelle (Dr. Martin LeBoldus HS), and LB Owen Zimmer (Luther College HS) are all expected to be in the lineup on Saturday.

TEAM CAPTAINS: The Rams have seven captains this season including LB Cameron Mah, LB Chopper Hippe, QB Noah Pelletier, DB Jackson Sombach, RB Christian Katende, OL Connor Klassen, OL Parker Hodel, and SB Rylan Sokul. All are expected to be in the lineup on Saturday except Sokul, who was injured in the Week 8 win over Alberta.

DRAFT REPORT: The Rams had two players selected in the 2024 CFL Draft. SB D'Sean Mimbs went in the sixth round to the Saskatchewan Roughriders with the 50th overall selection, while DB Jackson Sombach was taken in the seventh round (60th overall) by the Calgary Stampeders. Both players are back with the Rams this season. LB Chopper Hippe, OL Connor Klassen, and DB Dolani Robinson all participated in the U SPORTS East-West Bowl earlier this year, which featured players available for selection in the 2025 CFL Draft.

RAMS TERRITORY: This year's roster features a total of 98 players, 66 of whom call Saskatchewan home. The Rams also have 15 Albertans, 9 from British Columbia, 4 from Ontario, 1 from Manitoba (DL Praise Odogun), 1 from Quebec (RB Olivier Savard), 1 from Arizona (DB Cedric McCallum), and 1 from Washington (DL Maliq Washington).