CALGARY – They have been on a collision course since Week 1.

In one of the most thrilling finishes any of the more than 6,000 fans at Griffiths Stadium that night have ever seen, the Saskatchewan Huskies handed the Calgary Dinos their only loss of the season on Sept. 4 with a 34-33 overtime decision when a Calgary two-point convert attempt – which would have given the Dinos the victory – was denied.

Seven regular season games and a pair of conference semi-finals later, the two teams meet again at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon on Saturday, but this time there will be much more on the line when the 73rd Hardy Cup kicks off at 1 p.m. local, noon MT on Shaw TV, The FAN 960, and www.fan960.com.

GAME NOTES (.pdf)

The winner will advance to the Uteck Bowl next weekend in Halifax where they will face the Atlantic conference champion for the right to play for the Vanier Cup a week later in Quebec City.

The No. 2 Dinos and No. 3 Huskies took vastly different paths to get to their 7-1 records this season. After the opening-week loss, the Dinos survived a scare from Alberta in their home opener and then went on a roll, outscoring their opponents by more than 30 points per game in their final six victories of the season, setting offensive records left and right.

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, came out of the opening weekend unscathed and then dodged another bullet when the Regina Rams missed a potential game-winning field goal in the final minute a week later. The Huskies fell 27-7 on the road to Alberta in their first road game of the year, then went to overtime again at Simon Fraser where yet another missed field goal worked in the Huskies' favour. In the following four weeks, however, Saskatchewan gave up just 38 total points while scoring an average of 39 per game to head into the playoffs with significant momentum.

Neither side had too much trouble in the semi-final round last weekend, with both Calgary and Saskatchewan scoring early and often as the Dinos dumped Alberta 45-13 while the Huskies outgunned the Regina Rams 53-23.

The high-flying Calgary offence will meet the stingy Saskatchewan defence in what is sure to be another classic battle this weekend with everything on the line in just the fourth post-season meeting between the two teams.

All three previous outings have been in the conference championship game, with the home team winning them all. The Dinos are 2-1 in playoff games against the Huskies, with the last meeting coming in 1995 when the Don Blair-led Dinos needed overtime to edge Saskatchewan 32-30 en route to the school's fourth Vanier Cup title. In fact, Calgary's other playoff win over the Huskies back in 1988 also came in overtime by a score of 46-33.

History is with the home team in Canada West championship games. Since 1976, when the playoff format was introduced, the host has won 22 of the 33 conference finals played. The most recent victory by a road team was in 2006, when Saskatchewan went into Winnipeg and upended previously undefeated Manitoba 32-15, while the Dinos have pulled the feat on two occasions: 1984 at Alberta, and 1992 at UBC.

Here's a look at the two teams for what is widely predicted to be the marquee game among the four conference finals happening Saturday across the country:

No. 2 Calgary Dinos (8-1)
Last week: won 45-13 vs. Alberta

The Calgary offence didn't perform at its regular clip throughout most of last Saturday's semi-final game against the Alberta Golden Bears, but a pair of kickoff return touchdowns from Anthony Parker bookended a 45-13 win nonetheless as the Dinos defence contained Quade Armstrong and the Golden Bears for most of the afternoon. Steve Truzak hauled in three interceptions to earn national defensive player-of-the-week honours, highlighting a solid performance from the Dinos' defensive side.

That defence, which has steadily improved through the final half of the season, will face its biggest test in the Hardy Cup against Laurence Nixon and the Saskatchewan Huskies as Calgary looks to win back-to-back Canada West titles for the first time since 1992 and 1993. Calgary's ability to stop the run, which the Dinos' front seven demonstrated all season in leading the conference, will be key.

Erik Glavic, the unanimous choice for Canada West's most outstanding player award, had a forgettable outing against Alberta, completing just 10 of 23 passes for 154 yards and running for just two yards, well below his season averages in both categories. Despite his struggles, the Dinos still managed to put up more than 300 yards rushing thanks to 163 from Matt Walter and amassed 457 yards total offence.

Much has been made of the decision to go for two in overtime of the Week 1 game, but there were several other plays during that contest that would likely have changed the outcome – including a late Glavic interception toss, a time-count violation on what would have been the game-winning 43-yard field goal by Aaron Ifield late in the fourth quarter, a near-interception that turned into Saskatchewan's first overtime touchdown, and a roughing the passer call that extended the Huskies' drive in double overtime.

The Dinos will focus on execution, limiting mistakes, and keeping control of the football. Glavic threw just six interceptions on the season, with two of them coming in the Saskatchewan game back on Sept. 4 – and the Huskies finished the season with the best giveaway-takeaway ratio in the conference at plus-7, so limiting turnovers will be crucial.

The Dinos are 9-5 all-time in Canada West championship games, but just 2-5 away from McMahon Stadium. The 1992 win at UBC was Calgary's last road playoff win in the conference, with the last road playoff win overall coming in the 1993 Atlantic Bowl over Saint Mary's.

No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (8-1)
Last week: won 53-23 vs. Regina

After their well-documented slow start, the Huskies began to round into form after squeaking out another overtime win at Simon Fraser and put together an impressive streak over the final four games of the regular season. Saskatchewan then overwhelmed the Regina Rams for the second time in as many weeks last Saturday in the playoff semi-final, setting up Saturday's showdown with the Dinos.

Saskatchewan tends to spread the ball out on offence, with eight players racking up more than 100 receiving yards on the season and nobody cracking the 500-yard barrier. Laurence Nixon bounced back from a lackluster start to post solid numbers on the season, just missing the 2,000-yard mark with his 1,933 passing yards. He tossed five touchdown passes in the playoff win over Regina last week.

The major new wrinkle the Huskies will throw at the Calgary defence will be tailback Jeff Hassler, an Okotoks product of Holy Trinity Academy who ran roughshod over teams in the four games he appeared in this season. In four outings, Hassler racked up 367 yards – a 91.8-yard average – and added another dimension to the Saskatchewan offence. Tyler O'Gorman was the Huskies' leading rusher with 373 yards.

They will face the Calgary front seven that allowed just 754 total yards along the ground this season, the best in Canada West by 300 yards.

Led by conference defensive player of the year, linebacker Taylor Wallace, the Huskies allowed just 14 points per game on the season – not including those two overtime games against Calgary and Simon Fraser – despite being middle-of-the road in both rush and pass defence on the season. Saskatchewan held its opponents to a league-best 73.7 per cent in the red zone, with 14 scores on 19 tries over the course of the season.

The Huskies last won the conference title in 2006, wrapping up a span of four Hardy Cups in five seasons stretching back to 2002.

-UC-