CALGARY – They're a young team with 10 new starters on defence and missing the reigning conference MVP in quarterback Eric Dzwilewski – but the University of Calgary Dinos remain undefeated and can wrap up first place Friday night in Saskatoon.

Kickoff between the third-ranked Dinos (5-0) and the No. 6 Huskies (4-1) goes at 7 p.m. MT from Griffiths Stadium, live on Shaw TV and CanadaWest.tv.

GAME NOTES (.pdf)

By virtue of their 36-24 win over Saskatchewan back in Week 3 at McMahon Stadium, the Dinos have the upper hand in the season series and would clinch the tiebreaker with the Huskies with another victory Friday night. Calgary already holds the tiebreaker over the Manitoba Bisons – the only other team that could catch them in the standings if they were to win Friday – by virtue of their 48-24 win in the only meeting of the season. A first place finish for the Dinos would be their third consecutive and give them home field advantage all the way to the CIS Mitchell Bowl, which this year pits the Ontario champion against the Canada West champion.

The Dinos enter the game on a four-game win streak against the Huskies, including a 20-7 win in their last trip to Griffiths Stadium back in 2011. Since 2007, the Dinos and Huskies have split their six games in Saskatoon right down the middle with each team taking three – including the 2009 Hardy Cup, a 39-38 Calgary victory.

Here's a look at the two teams:

No. 3 Calgary Dinos (5-0)
Last week: defeated Alberta 76-21
Next week: BYE

The Dinos exploded for 848 yards of total offence in last week's 76-21 shellacking of the Alberta Golden Bears at Foote Field in Edmonton, stretching their win streak to five straight games and setting up a chance to clinch first place.

Mercer Timmis has made his case for conference MVP honours over the last two games, combining to score eight touchdowns in wins over Manitoba and Alberta. The sophomore tailback has 13 rushing majors on the year, leading the nation by eight – no other back has more than five – and his 14 total touchdowns puts him just three shy of Don Blair's school record of 17 set in 1995, when Blair won the Hec Crighton and the Dinos won the Vanier Cup. He played the first half and one series of the third quarter against the Bears, totaling 214 yards on 16 carries to move into second spot on the conference rushing leaderboard with 709 yards in five games. For his efforts, he was named the conference's offensive player of the week.

Andrew Buckley, meanwhile, is 4-0 as a starting quarterback and holds the best efficiency rating of any starter in the conference. He has completed 66.4 per cent of his passes for 1,432 yards on the season. The Calgary receivers got into the action and spread the ball out effectively last Saturday night, with four different receivers finding the end zone – including the first career touchdowns for fullback Anthony Anderson and wideout Kyle Brick. Rookie Rashaun Simonise didn't score a touchdown but still had a career night with 10 catches for 162 yards, while Chris Dobko continues to pad his lead as the Dinos' all-time leading receiver, adding six catches last week to bring his career total to 152.

Johnny Mark was the conference's special teams MVP last weekend, averaging 47.1 yards per punt while connecting on a 46-yard field goal, the longest of his career. Mark remains the only perfect placekicker in the nation, going 9-for-9 in field goals and 19-for-19 in point-after attempts. His 10 converts last week set a new school single-game record, while his 101 career converts have him just four shy of Aaron Ifield's school record.

The Dinos enjoy the Thanksgiving bye next week before wrapping up the regular season with a pair of Friday night home dates, Oct. 18 against Regina and Oct. 25 against UBC.

No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (4-1)
Last week: defeated UBC 17-12
Next week: BYE

Struggling to find offence in their last two road games, the Huskies will look to the comforts of home field advantage to get a win over the visiting Calgary Dinos.

In the last two road games, the Huskies tallied 41 points with just 14 coming from the offence. In the two home games, Saskatchewan has scored 79 points with 56 coming from the offence.

Still riddled with injuries on the offensive line and in the secondary, the Huskies will look to veterans to guide the young replacements. In the last three matchups, the defence has kept Saskatchewan in the game recording two touchdowns from fumble recoveries and six sacks.

Battling the rain, Saskatchewan scored 16 points in the second half to win 17-12 over the UBC Thunderbirds last weekend. Quarterback Drew Burko completed 19-of-31 pass attempts for 231 yards, while running backs Dexter Janke and Shane Buchanan combined for 138 yards and one touchdown.

Experience on the defence stepped up once again for the Huskies in the game. Mark Ingram, Seamus Neary and Ronald Mwamba all had 4.5 tackles. Neary also added a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Saskatchewan's defence continues to lead the Canada West with 18 sacks.

Following next week's bye, Saskatchewan hosts Manitoba before closing the regular season with a trip south to face provincial rival Regina.

-UC-