• It's a fresh slate for all six Canada West teams as they prepare for Week 1 of the conference schedule. The reigning Canada West champions, Regina enters Friday's game ranked No. 10 in the first U SPORTS poll of the campaign.

• Both teams are coming off of exhibition victories last week. The Rams edged Manitoba 31-28 last Thursday at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg, while Calgary took a 45-13 win over Alberta last Monday in Red Deer.

• The two teams play a Week 1 game in Calgary for the second consecutive season. Last year's matchup saw the Rams win 24-16, though Calgary returned the favour with a tight 23-20 victory on Oct. 5 in Regina. The Dinos hold an all-time edge of 23-12 over the Rams in 35 conference games played against each other.

LOOKING FOR AN ENCORE: After last week's exhibition road win over Manitoba, the Rams' road to defending their Canada West championship begins exactly as the 2024 season did - with a road game at Calgary. The Rams will hope for a repeat of that Week 1 contest, which saw them come away with a 24-16 victory at McMahon Stadium.

NEW OC: New to the staff this year is offensive coordinator Jaeden Marwick, who joins the squad after a three-year stint at Miller Comprehensive HS in Regina. Marwick, who earned All-Canadian honours as a quarterback with the Regina Thunder in 2015, played one season of U SPORTS football with Bishop's in 2016. He replaces Josh Donnelly, who left in the offseason to become an offensive assistant with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

UNDER CENTRE: The Rams enter the 2025 campaign with two battle-tested quarterbacks in Noah Pelletier and Owen Sieben. Sieben had a breakthrough campaign in his first year on campus as the 2023 Canada West Rookie of the Year, but was injured in the team's opener against Calgary and missed almost the entire remainder of the season before returning to back up in the Mitchell Bowl. Pelletier, now in his fourth season of eligibility, took over the reins and guided the Rams into the playoffs and then to consecutive postseason road victories over Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

AT LB: Three of the four starting linebacker positions are expected to be the same this year for the Rams with LB Colin McKellar, LB Chopper Hippe, and LB Brandon Wong all returning and expected to anchor the team's defence. Stepping up is second-year LB Owen Zimmer, who has the inside track to take the mac linebacker spot in place of graduated veteran Cameron Mah.

RECEIVERS LOOK: Another position with familiarity across the board, the receiver group should again feature Renzel Arinaza, Nicholas Sirleaf, Rylan Sokul, and Emmett Steadman. D'Sean Mimbs has graduated to the CFL ranks with the Roughriders, leaving a spot open which could be filled by first-year SB Eythan Crites.

D-LINE: The Rams return a trio of experienced linemen including Jacob Dakiniewich, Anthony Montas Leipert, and Toryn Swystun-Bernes. Newcomer Ethan Lucke, who comes over from the Regina Thunder, and second-year DL Brad Rodin also figure to feature prominently in the rotation.

ERICHSEN CLOSES IN ON 1000: RB Marshall Erichsen is poised to become just the sixth player in U of R history to collect 1000 career rushing yards. He enters Friday's game with 978 yards, needing just 22 to join Kyle Borsa, Adrian Charles, Neal Hughes, Graham Mosiondz, and Atlee Simon as the only U of R Rams to have reached that milestone.

IN THE BACKFIELD: We'll call it three returners for the defensive backs this season as Carson Sombach reclaims his spot at safety and Jacob Tkachuk will be back at the hawk spot. The other three starters are likely to be Jaxon Fuchs, Ethan Jaster, and Max Polischuk, who all have amassed plenty of playing time for the Rams over the past few seasons.

O-LINE: The theme of quality returners also applies to the offensive line which should see Ethan Graham and Nick Makowsky return on the left side and Riley Schick back at centre. The right side will have a different look with Parker Hodel graduated and Connor Klassen injured, but Will Templeton and Nnadozie Marendiukobianwa are both experienced and should be able to capably step in.

PELLETIER NEARING LEASON: QB Noah Pelletier enters the season ranked sixth in the school record book with 3727 career passing yards, but needs just 187 more to surpass Darryl Leason for fifth. Leason compiled 3913 passing yards in his short two-season career with the U of R, which spanned the 2000 and 2001 campaigns.

LAMBS TO RAMS: The squad expects to travel to Calgary with three players directly out of Regina-area high schools including OL Davin Berry (Michael A. Riffel HS), DB Liam Platt (Miller Comprehensive HS), and K Ty Gorniak (Greenall HS).

GORNIAK LOOKS TO MAKE HISTORY: Gorniak, who's expected to handle placekicking duties on Friday, could etch his name into the school record books on Friday. The youngest player in U of R history to score a point is Kolten Solomon, who was 18 years and 82 days old when he hauled in a pair of touchdown passes in a game against Calgary during the 2007 season. Gorniak will be just 18 years and 52 days old on Friday.

DEBUTS: Besides Berry, Gorniak, and Platt, the Rams expect to have up to six other players dress for their first career Canada West games against the Dinos. DL Ethan Lucke should suit up after coming over from the Regina Thunder while SB Ethan Crites, SB Blake Laidlaw, DB Chase Murray, WR Taggart Rowell, and LB Eric Wiebe could all play after gaining experience with the program as redshirts last season.

TEAM CAPTAINS: The Rams have eight captains this season including DL Jacob Dakiniewich, LB Chopper Hippe, QB Noah Pelletier, OL Riley Schick, SB Rylan Sokul, DB Carson Sombach, WR Emmett Steadman, LB Brandon Wong.