CALGARY – The third-ranked University of Calgary Dinos are looking for more of the same as they put their 4-1 record on the line Saturday afternoon when the Manitoba Bisons visit McMahon Stadium (1 p.m., The FAN 960, www.fan960.com, video webcast at www.goDINOS.com).

GAME NOTES (.pdf)

After a wacky weekend in CIS football which saw the Dinos' 50-26 victory over UBC s the only win by a top-three team, Calgary held on to the No. 3 position after Top 10 voters had all kinds of trouble deciding where to slot teams. The Dinos ended up with 18 of the 55 first place votes on the committee, but Montreal took over the No. 1 spot after beating previously top-ranked Laval. The Rouge et Or fell to second spot, with Western Ontario dropping all the way to No. 5 after their home loss to McMaster.

The rankings are nice to talk about and debate, but it's performance on the field that matters most and the Dinos have been rolling since their overtime loss in Saskatoon to open the season. This weekend they entertain the Manitoba Bisons, who they swept in both ends of a home-and-home series last season. Saturday is the lone meeting of 2009 between the Dinos and Bisons and is an important one for Calgary as they look to stay on top of the standings and perhaps clinch a playoff spot heading into their bye week.

It's potentially a milestone game for Calgary kicker Aaron Ifield, who was named the Canada West special teams player of the week after scoring 20 points, including five field goals, at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver last Saturday. Ifield moved into second place on the Dinos' all-time field goal list with 48 thanks to that performance and is just two away from Bruce Parsons' (1991-94) school record of 50.

Ifield also moved into eighth place in Canada West history with 48 field goals, tied with Regina kicker Perri Scarcelli, and 11th in scoring with 229 points. He is currently third on the Dinos' all-time scoring list, 30 back of Brent Matich (1984-88) and 45 in arrears of Parsons' record 274.

Saturday's game will be strength against strength as the Bisons' second-ranked rush offence takes on Calgary's top-ranked run defence. Here's a look at the two teams heading into Saturday:

No. 3 Calgary Dinos (4-1)
Last week: won 50-26 @ UBC
Next week: bye

The Dinos have been an offensive juggernaut in the past three weeks, scoring 140 points in wins over Regina, Simon Fraser, and UBC. Calgary is second in the nation in total offence (551 yards/game) and first in rushing offence, averaging better than 293 yards on the ground. Matt Walter, the conference offensive player of the week, has a 300-yard lead over his closest competitor in the Canada West rushing race, while quarterback Erik Glavic is number five on the rushing chart.

On the passing side, Anthony Parker leads the nation in receiving yards with 520 and is the only receiver in Canada averaging better than 100 yards per game. Teammate Nathan Coehoorn is just outside the top 10 nationally at number 12, posting the fourth-best total in Canada West with 77 yards per game.

Calgary head coach Blake Nill's mission all season has been getting his team to play like a front-runner, and despite the lopsided victories there have been areas where the team can improve. The Dinos have tended to sit back after opening up big leads, with the most striking example the Alberta game in Week 2 when the Bears nearly pulled off the comeback but were thwarted when the Dinos successfully defended two onside kick attempts. Complacency crept in slightly again in the UBC game when the Dinos gave up a 108-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, and the Dinos will look for a complete 60-minute effort against the Bisons.

A win Saturday would extend the Dinos' home win streak to 11 games dating back to the end of the 2007 season and including the two playoff games in 2008.

The Dinos enjoy a week off next week with the bye before closing out the season with a home game against Regina Oct. 24 and a quick road trip to Edmonton to face Alberta Oct. 31.

Manitoba Bisons (2-2)
Last week: won 20-13 vs. Alberta
Next week: vs. Saskatchewan

It's been a Jekyll-and-Hyde routine for the Manitoba Bisons so far this season, showing two very different looks at home and on the road.

The 2007 Vanier Cup champs opened the season with a 28-10 defeat in Regina against the Rams, following that up with the most anemic offensive performance in recent history in Canada West at Simon Fraser. In a 41-7 loss to the Clan, the Bisons managed just five first downs and 69 yards total offence, their only points coming from a CIS-record 129-yard missed field goal return by Jeremy Botelho.

After just 17 points in the first two games, Manitoba returned to the friendly confines of University Stadium in Winnipeg and put up 36 in a Homecoming win over UBC, then scored an impressive 20-13 victory over Alberta last week to even its record at 2-2.

The Bisons still rank in the bottom half of most statistical categories, although the Simon Fraser game has skewed those numbers dramatically. Despite just 42 yards on the ground in that game in Burnaby, Manitoba still ranks as the number two rush offence in Canada West with nearly 185 yards per game. Take away the SFU game, and that average jumps up nearly 50 yards to 232.

Both totals are still well back of the Dinos' nearly 300-yard average, but the Bisons will provide maybe the stiffest test yet for Calgary's vaunted front seven, which as allowed just 85 yards rushing per game so far in 2009. That rushing attack is led by Matt Henry, who has posted back-to-back games with better than 120 yards.

The Manitoba pass attack, meanwhile, has yet to hit the 500-yard mark on the season, with last week's 176 yards against Alberta the season high. Quarterback Nathan Friesen has completed 32 passes in four games, and the Bisons don't have a single receiver in the top 10. Botelho, Rory Anderson, and Clancy Doiron have split the workload pretty much equally so far, with Doiron's 138 yards on nine catches leading the way.

Saturday's contest is the first of a tough two-game stretch for the Bisons against the top two teams in Canada West. Next weekend they return home to face the Saskatchewan Huskies in Winnipeg.

-UC-