Rams Home To Bisons Tonight

KICKOFF: Sept. 8 (7:00 PM)

SITE: Mosaic Stadium (Regina, Sask.)

CAPACITY: 33,427

RANKINGS: Manitoba #8, Regina NR

TELEVISION: Canada West Football on Shaw - Access7 in Regina
(Jim Mullin/PxP, Wray Morrison/CC, Mitchell Blair/sideline)

REGINA RADIO: 620 CKRM
(Michael Ball/PxP, Marco Ricci/CC)

WINNIPEG RADIO: UMFM 101.5
(Christian Aumell/PxP, Chris Zuk/CC)

LIVE VIDEO: www.canadawest.tv ($)

 

• This will be the first Thursday game that the Rams have played in their 18 seasons at the CIS level. All 137 of the U of R’s regular season games to this point have been played on either Friday or Saturday.

 

• This game features two of the reigning Canada West Players of the Week. Rams QB Noah Picton and Manitoba LB D.J. Lalama were both honoured by the conference on Tuesday.

 

• Both teams are coming off of Week 1 losses, as Manitoba suffered a 23-14 home loss to Calgary and the Rams were edged on the road by a 41-39 score by Saskatchewan in a game that needed overtime to settle.

 

PICTON EARNS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rams QB Noah Picton set career highs across the board last week, finishing the game with 471 passing yards, four touchdown passes, and 108 rushing yards. His 471 passing yards are the third-highest total in U of R history, while he also becomes just the second quarterback in Rams history to rush for at least 100 yards in a CIS game – Darryl Leason hit that milestone twice, both in a span of three weeks during the team’s magical 2000 postseason run.

 

GREAT DEBUT: Last week, Khalid Kornegay became the first Rams player to collect over 100 receiving yards in his first CIS game since Jason Clermont in 1999. Kornegay caught four passes for a total of 132 yards at Saskatchewan, including an 85-yard touchdown on the first possession of the second half. Clermont had 149 yards on Sept. 4, 1999 against Manitoba, which was not only his first CIS game but also the first for the Rams at the university level.

 

TONS OF YARDS: A pair of Rams slotbacks are closing in on 1000 receiving yards for their careers, and it would be three of them if Mitch Thompson wasn’t out for the year. Fifth-year veteran Riley Wilson comes into the week with 941 receiving yards, while fourth-year receiver Mitchell Picton is close behind with 921. A total of 14 players in the Rams’ history at the CIS level have registered at least 1000 yards, with four of them – Jared Janotta, Chad Goldie, Jason Clermont, and Jordan Sisco – breaking the 2000-yard mark.

 

SCHIENBEIN SCHINES: He had just three catches last year as a rookie, but SB Ryan Schienbein exploded for career highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (151) last week while also notching his second and third touchdown catches of his CIS career. He had a 65-yard touchdown early in the second half, then caught a three-yard pass from Picton with just over a minute and a half to go. He also added 54 return yards (47 kickoff, 7 punt) to lead all players with 205 all-purpose yards.

 

INJURY REPORT: WR Davin Johnston (doubtful), RB Atlee Simon (questionable), LB Michael Stefanovic (questionable), DL Eric Wicijowski (out for season).

 

ON THE LINE: With Wicijowski out for the season after sustaining an injury last week, the Rams are likely to give second-year DL Matt Moore the start in his place. Moore, who had two assisted tackles late in the Saskatchewan game, dressed for four Canada West games as a rookie last season and is expected to make his first career start on Thursday.

 

ALL-TIME SERIES: Manitoba holds a 17-11 all-time edge in the 28 conference games played between the two teams and took both of the meetings last year, winning 34-19 in Winnipeg and following that up two weeks later with a 49-46 win in Regina. Manitoba has won four of the last five games against the Rams dating back to the 2013 season, though the Rams won each of the seven contests prior to that.

 

(Braden Konschuh/U of R)