CALGARY – It has been a rarity in these parts to witness November college football at McMahon Stadium. Just twice since the 1995 Vanier Cup championship have the University of Calgary Dinos hosted a playoff game – and Sunday's Canada West Semifinal Presented by Calgary Co-op will feature the same opponent for the third straight home playoff game – the Regina Rams.

Calgary's playoff futility since that 1995 Vanier Cup has been well-documented. That 54-24 victory over Western Ontario at SkyDome in Toronto remains the last post-season victory for the Dinos football program, a playoff losing streak that has stretched to seven games – the last being a 27-5 setback in Winnipeg last year to the eventual Vanier Cup champion Manitoba Bisons.

In just two of those seven games, however, did the Dinos hold home field advantage, and both times they have played the Rams. The 2000 game was a heartbreaker, with Regina winning 33-32 on a last-second 35-yard punt through the end zone after the Dinos finished 6-2. The Rams are the only team that Calgary has faced twice or more in post-season play without notching a victory. Calgary continues to look for its first-ever Canada West semifinal win.

The Dinos did enjoy success against the Rams in 2008, winning both an exhibition contest (26-10 in Medicine Hat, Alta.) and their lone conference meeting of the season – a 31-5 decision Oct. 11 at McMahon in what was arguably the Dinos' best performance of the season. Calgary held the potent Regina offence to just 17 first downs while racking up nearly 300 yards in offence on the ground, including 200 from Matt Walter. It was Walter's best game of the season and propelled him into the Canada West rushing lead, a lead he maintained through the remainder of the season to win the rushing title with 904 yards. For his efforts, Walter is Calgary's nominee for the Hec Crighton Award for most outstanding player.

Regina has a most outstanding player of their own – two-time defending Canada West player of the year Teale Orban makes his final appearance at McMahon Stadium to quarterback the Regina offence. Orban, who has made just two previous starts in Calgary because of oddities in the schedule, is winless in both tries. The all-time conference leader in passing yards, touchdown passes, and completions, he once again led the conference in passing yards with 1809 and touchdown passes with 10. His two favourite targets were Chad Goldie and Jordan Sisco, who each averaged around 58 receiving yards per game.

The Rams' running game took a hit late in the season when Luke Derkson, their fifth-year running back, suffered a knee injury at Alberta. He missed the Manitoba game last weekend where the Rams clinched a playoff spot and underwent surgery earlier this week. Backup Austin Kappel had just 29 carries on the season, finishing with 149 yards on the ground, and he will be called upon to lead Regina's rushing attack.

Calgary's running game, meanwhile, got a significant boost with the return of second team All-Canadian Anthony Woodson to the lineup in last week's loss at Alberta. Woodson, the 2007 rushing leader in Canada West, was injured late in the Dinos' 37-17 win over Manitoba in Week 2 and made his presence felt in his return, adding another dimension to the Calgary running game.

The Dinos and Rams are neck-and-neck in most statistical categories, with the glaring exception of scoring defence. Calgary had the second-best points against in the conference in 2008, giving up just 15.9 points per game, while Regina averaged 22.4 points against –a full touchdown difference.

The game will be just the second Sunday home game for the Dinos since 1978. The last one came in 2006 when UBC visited on a Sunday afternoon following a Wednesday night Shrum Bowl contest against Simon Fraser. Calgary won that game 30-27 after scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter, capped off by a 105-yard pass-and-run play in the final minute.

The winner of Sunday's match-up will play the winner of Saturday's Saskatchewan-Simon Fraser contest for the Hardy Cup, signifying Canada West football supremacy.

The game will be broadcast live on www.fan960.com with Dave Rowe and Tony Spoletini, with a live video webcast available through NUTV at www.nutv.ca/streaming. Kickoff is 1 p.m. MT.

-UC-