CALGARY – For the fifth time in seven years, the University of Calgary Dinos will take on the University of Regina Rams in a playoff contest at McMahon Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Kickoff of the second of two Canada West semi-finals goes at 3 p.m. Saturday, live on Shaw TV and CanadaWest.tv. Please note that playoff ticket prices will be in effect.

No two teams in Canada West have met as often in the postseason as the Dinos and Rams of late, with previous meetings coming in the semi-finals of 2008, 2010, and 2011, along with their most recent playoff meeting in the 2012 Hardy Cup. All four previous encounters were home wins by the Dinos, and they'll look to make it five in a row and host the 78th Hardy Cup with a victory on Saturday.

Under retiring head coach Frank McCrystal, the Rams were the last – and, still, the only – Canada West team to have won a playoff game at McMahon Stadium. And they did it twice, back in 2000 and 2002. Other than those two, the Dinos are unbeaten at home in the Canada West playoffs in the remaining 17 games they've played. Overall, Calgary is 21-3 at home in the postseason and have lost just three of their last 44 games on home turf – one of which was the Week 1 forfeit loss to Alberta this year.

The Dinos come into this one fresh off their lone on-field loss of the season, a 50-31 setback at Manitoba last week, while Regina beat those same Bisons in Week 7, then knocked off Alberta last week to qualify for the playoffs with the fourth and final berth. Calgary and Regina met just once in the regular season, a 59-7 Dinos win on Oct. 4 at McMahon.

Should the Dinos win, they'll host the 78th Hardy Cup for the sixth time in seven years next Saturday, while a Regina win would send the Rams on the road to the winner of Friday's Saskatchewan-Manitoba game for the conference final.

Here's a look at the two teams:

No. 4 Calgary Dinos (6-2)
Last week: lost 50-31 to Manitoba

A 50-31 loss at Manitoba last week was certainly not the Dinos' best effort of the season, and as a result they dropped from the No. 2 position they've held all year in the national rankings down to No. 4. Despite the setback, however, the Dinos still remain the force of Canada West: they averaged 110 yards and 26 points per game more than anyone else in the league, and they'll enjoy home field advantage through the Hardy Cup.

Though they were the better team statistically in Winnipeg last week, the Dinos lost thanks to some big plays by the Bisons. Twice Calgary gave up blocked punts that resulted in touchdowns, while 75 of Manitoba's 280 offensive yards came on one over-the-top pass to Nic Demski. All three plays were big momentum shifts in the game, and the Dinos were unable to gain any sustained pressure of their own. All that said, it was a season to remember for the Dinos: they set new school single-season records in points (419), touchdowns (51), rushing yards (2,545), and total offence (5,082). They led the nation in scoring, finished second in yards per game, and outscored their opponents by an average of 30 points per game.

Defensively, the Dinos were solid as well, leading the conference in points allowed, rushing and passing yards allowed, and total yards – but that defence will face a stiff test in a potent Regina offence that finished second overall to Calgary in the regular season and averaged nearly 400 passing yards.

It's win-or-go-home time – and the Dinos will be looking for a significantly better effort across the board against Regina as they look to defend their six consecutive Hardy Cup titles.

Regina Rams (3-5)
Last week: defeated Alberta 35-31

The Rams clinched their playoff spot with a four-point home win over Alberta last week, giving them the tiebreaker over the Golden Bears (both 3-5) by just two points in the for-and-against calculation. It vaulted Regina back into the playoffs after a one-year absence, sending them right back to the site of their last postseason contest: a 38-14 loss to the Dinos in the 2012 Hardy Cup at McMahon Stadium.

Freshman quarterback Noah Picton has been a revelation for the Rams, who come into Saturday's game on a two-game win streak after knocking off both Manitoba and Alberta at Mosaic Stadium to capture the final playoff spot. Picton, the reigning offensive player of the week in Canada West, started just five of Regina's eight games, yet still finished atop the leaderboard in passing yards per game. In games he started, the Regina native tossed for more than 400 yards twice and averaged 316 yards through the air. Unsurprisingly, his Rams teammates Addison Richards and Jared Janotta finished 1-2 in receiving in Canada West this year.

Defensively, linebacker Michael Stefanovic led Regina with 39.5 tackles on the year, with secondary teammate Patrick MacDonald just behind him with 38 tackles. Both cracked the Canada West top 10 in their respective categories.

-UC-