CALGARY – With first place and home field advantage already sewn up, the University of Calgary Dinos have the luxury of back-to-back home games to wrap up the regular season and get tuned up for the playoff push as they chase their sixth consecutive Canada West championship.

The undefeated, third-ranked Dinos (6-0) face the Regina Rams (2-4) – a team fighting for their playoff lives – Friday night at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff goes at 6 p.m. MT, live on CanadaWest.tv. In conjunction with the Dinos Fifth Quarter association, the Dinos are introducing the BADLANDS pre-game event in the Red and White Club this week, with a pre-game buffet meal available for just $15 ($10 for University of Calgary students). For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.dinos5thquarter.com.

GAME NOTES (.pdf)

It's the second of two meetings between the Dinos and Rams this season, with Calgary escaping Mosaic Stadium with a 34-27 win back on Sept. 6. The two teams have been heading in opposite directions ever since, with the Dinos seemingly getting stronger every game while the Rams have managed just two wins over the hapless Alberta Golden Bears – needing a last-minute TD in their most recent outing to pull that off.

The Rams are expecting quarterback Cayman Shutter back in the lineup Friday night after missing the Alberta game. Shutter is the lynchpin of the pass-happy Rams offence, having thrown for more than 400 yards in the last meeting between the two teams. The Rams have the top passing attack in the conference, averaging more than 350 yards per game through the air. The Dinos are just five yards back of that mark, however – so Friday night could turn into an offensive air-show.

Mercer Timmis, of course, may have something to say about that. The sophomore Calgary tailback will look to pad his conference MVP credentials over the next two games – and his numbers are already stunning. Timmis is just 119 yards away from a 1,000-yard rushing season – a feat accomplished just nine times in school history – and could set a single-season rushing record with two solid games. Craig Kittelson's 1992 season sets the pace with 1,248 yards – and Timmis is 367 yards back of that. Timmis already holds the school record for rushing touchdowns in a year with 14, and he's two away from tying Don Blair's 1995 mark of 17 all-purpose touchdowns – currently the school and conference records.

While the game has no bearing on the Dinos' playoff positioning, it's a must-win for the Rams: Regina must win both of its remaining games to have a shot at a postseason berth. It is, however, a must-win for the Dinos if they hope to achieve a first in school history: an undefeated record. Only a 12-7 loss to these same Rams in Week 7 last year kept that from happening in 2012.

Here's a look at the two teams:

No. 3 Calgary Dinos (6-0)
Before bye: defeated Saskatchewan 24-12
Next week: host UBC

It wasn't pretty, but the Dinos wrapped up first place with a 24-12 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies two weeks ago at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon. Led by a solid effort on special teams featuring three blocked kicks, the Dinos took the lead in the third quarter on a touchdown pass by Andrew Buckley to Chris Dobko and never looked back. Timmis added some insurance with an exclamation point, rumbling 80 yards for his longest career touchdown and giving him 178 yards on the game.

With the bye week over Thanksgiving to recuperate, the Dinos expect to welcome Jake Harty back to the lineup but lost the services of Brett Blaszko to a leg injury sustained in the Saskatchewan game.

The Dinos will face Regina's top-ranked pass defence this weekend, but Regina is second-last in the conference in rushing yards allowed at 184 per game – so look for Calgary to establish the run early and often in the contest, with Timmis following the blocking of his standout offensive line. Defensively, Calgary will need to stop the potent Regina passing game which is the best in the conference. Shutting down Shutter and his receivers will be priority No. 1 for the Dinos, with the Rams holding the worst run offence in the conference, averaging just 94 yards per game along the ground.

Calgary wraps up the season next Friday night when they host UBC in a game that could very well be a first-round playoff preview.

Regina Rams (2-4)
Before bye: defeated Alberta 25-20
Next week: host Saskatchewan

The expected return of Cayman Shutter, a transfer quarterback from the University of Hawaii, should bolster the Rams' confidence as they head to McMahon this weekend, looking for their first win in the building in more than a decade. Regina's last win at McMahon Stadium came all the way back on Oct. 4, 2003 in a 37-35 triumph.

Shutter leads the conference with more than 350 passing yards per game and has attempted 224 passes in just five games – nearly 45 attempts per outing. Despite missing the Alberta game he's only 16 yards behind Saskatchewan's Drew Burko in total passing yards, and he has found receivers for 10 touchdowns on the year – tied for second-best in the conference.

Not surprisingly, the Rams have three receivers in the top 10, led by Addison Richards who tops the list with 90.3 yards per game. Kolten Solomon and Jared Janotta also crack the 10 best receiving yards list, while Mark McConkey joins that trio on the total receptions leaderboard.

All that offence hasn't been enough for the Rams, however, who have managed only to beat Alberta twice en route to their 2-4 record. The Rams have allowed 33.3 points per game on the season – second-worst in the conference – largely due to their run defence. Their pass defence, on the other hand, has been stellar: Regina is allowing less than 270 yards per game through the air and leads the conference with six interceptions.

The Rams should take some confidence from the fact that they only fell to the Dinos by a touchdown back on Sept. 6, with that game going down to the wire before a Shutter incompletion in the end zone ended the game.

Regina closes the regular season next week when they host the Saskatchewan Huskies in a provincial battle at Mosaic Stadium.

-UC-