• The Rams and the Huskies meet on Friday for the only time in Canada West play this year. The winner of Friday's U-Prairie Challenge matchup will emerge as the leader in the Canada West standings.

• The Rams are the only remaining undefeated Canada West team. Four other teams across the nation have yet to lose — Wilfrid Laurier and Western both have 4-0 records in the OUA, Saint Mary's is a perfect 3-0 in the AUS, and Montreal is 3-0 in the RSEQ.

• Rams RB Marshall Erichsen and LB Liam LaBelle were named Canada West BioSteel Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, following last week's win over UBC.
 

HOT START FOR ERICHSEN: RB Marshall Erichsen continued his sensational start to the campaign with 27 rushes for a career-high 196 yards last week at UBC. He's Canada West's leader and second in the nation — behind only Western RB Ethan Dolby — in both rushing yards (482) and rushing touchdowns (6) and is also regularly featured in the passing game with 8 catches for 106 yards. Approaching the halfway point of the conference schedule, Erichsen remains on pace to threaten the U of R single-season records for both rushing yards (972 by Adrian Charles in 2010) and touchdown runs (9 by Neal Hughes in 2003 and Charles in 2010).

RAMS AT 3-0: The win over UBC gave the Rams their third 3-0 start in U of R history. The only other times the Rams were 3-0? 2001 and 2002, which saw both of those squads — coached by newly enshrined Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Frank McCrystal — win their first four conference games before losing their fifth.

ON TARGET: QB Noah Pelletier has completed 64 of his 87 pass attempts this season and ranks third in the nation with a 73.6% completion rate — the highest in U of R single-season history, currently ahead of Noah Picton's 69.3% rate set during his Hec Crighton Trophy-winning 2016 season. Pelletier also ranks second in Canada West and fifth in U SPORTS with an average of 295.3 passing yards per game. 

LaBELLE COMES UP BIG: With the Rams up 30-20 midway through the fourth quarter, UBC completed a long pass up the sideline to get the Thunderbirds all the way down to Regina's two-yard line. A major for UBC would have made it a three-point game, but LB Liam LaBelle stepped up on back-to-back plays for the Regina defence. First, the second-year player took down the UBC quarterback for an eight-yard loss on what was his first career whole sack to set up a second-down passing situation. LaBelle dropped back into coverage on the next play, picked off a pass near the goal line for his first Canada West interception, and ran it back 40 yards before finally being hauled down at the 45.

SIRLEAF, ARINAZA LEAD RECEIVERS: Both second-year receivers, WR Nicholas Sirleaf and SB Renzel Arinaza are compiling impressive seasons for the Rams. Sirleaf leads Canada West and is fourth in the nation with an average of 122.3 receiving yards per game as he's caught 25 passes for a total of 367 yards and 2 touchdowns already this season. Arinaza isn't far behind with 19 receptions and is seventh in Canada West with 258 receiving yards.

QB BATTLE: Only three U SPORTS players have completed at least 60 passes without throwing an interception this season — and two of them are the projected starting quarterbacks for Friday night's tilt in Saskatoon. Rams QB Noah Pelletier is 64-for-87 with 5 TD passes and zero interceptions, while Saskatchewan QB Anton Amundrud is 68-for-101 with 8 TD passes and no interceptions. York QB Keagan Hall is the other.

IN THE RANKINGS: The win over UBC combined with Saskatchewan's setback at Manitoba paved the way for the Rams to move up to No. 5 in the U SPORTS Top 10. The last time the Rams were this high in the national polls was back in 2017, when they opened at No. 5 for the first two weeks of the season. The last time they ranked higher was in 2016, when their Noah Picton-led offence guided them to as high as No. 4 in the national rankings.

U-PRAIRIE CHALLENGE: Kicked off in 2022, the U-Prairie Challenge presented by SaskMilk is an all-sports battle between the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan featuring the 11 varsity sports the two schools both compete in. The Rams and the Huskies clash in football, women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's hockey, women's volleyball, and men's and women's track & field. Each sport is worth a total of four points, so four points will go to the winner of Friday's Huskies/Rams game.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: The Rams have now had four Canada West BioSteel Player of the Week awards through the first three games of the season after RB Marshall Erichsen and LB Liam LaBelle were both honoured after last Friday's victory. Erichsen was also the Canada West Offensive Player of the Week after Week 1, while DB Carson Sombach was the Canada West Defensive Player of the Week after the win over Alberta.

FIRST CATCH, FIRST TD FOR LAIDLAW: In his second season of U SPORTS eligibility but playing his first games for the Rams this year, QB Noah Pelletier found SB Blake Laidlaw behind the UBC defence for a critical 44-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. You'd think Laidlaw's current career numbers of 1 catch for 44 yards would make him the all-time U of R Rams leader in yards per reception, but it'll be tough for anyone to top Matt Yausie. The former defensive back's only career catch was courtesy of kicker Chris Bodnar as the two Saskatoon products connected for a 73-yard touchdown on a fake punt in a game during the 2010 season.

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. The Rams rank third in the nation in yards per game (501.7) through the first three weeks of the season.

ALL-TIME RUSHING TDs: Both Pelletier and Erichsen are now in the top five all-time in U of R history in rushing touchdowns. Atlee Simon is first with 22 and Neal Hughes is second with 17. Pelletier and Adrian Charles are tied for third with 13, while Erichsen is in sole possession of fifth place with 11 career touchdown runs.

DRAFT REPORT: OL Connor Klassen was a fourth-round selection by BC earlier this year but was injured at Lions training camp. He returned to the U of R for his fifth season of U SPORTS eligibility, but has yet to suit up for the Rams this season. Looking ahead, the Rams had four players — OL Ethan Graham, LB Colin McKellar, OL Riley Schick, and DB Carson Sombach — suit up at the 2025 U SPORTS East-West Bowl, which showcases players eligible for the 2026 CFL Draft.

RAMS TERRITORY: This year's roster features 105 players, with 71 of those players hailing from Saskatchewan. The squad also has 17 players from Alberta, 12 from British Columbia, 2 from Manitoba, and 1 each from Ontario, Arizona, and Washington.