VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds football team (4-2-0) will look to continue their excellent play from their home-and-home set with the Alberta Golden Bears over the past two games, as they hit the heartland of Canada take on the Saskatchewan Huskies (2-4-0) this Friday, October 23. The game is set for a 6 p.m. (PT) kickoff at Griffiths Stadium in PotashCorp Park in Saskatoon, and will be broadcast live on Shaw TV.



The T-Birds are coming off the best performance of their season last weekend, as they steamrolled the Golden Bears 54-10, with tailback Brandon Deschamps (Prince George, B.C.) at the forefront of the onslaught. The fifth-year tailback ran through, over, and around the Alberta defence for 176 yards and three touchdowns on just 16 carries. Though quarterback Michael O'Connor (Orleans, Ont.) largely deferred to his veteran tailback, the Penn State transfer had a solid game of his own, completing 14 of 22 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown.
 
As much as Deschamps dominated the headlines on offence against the Bears, it was the Stavros Katsantonis (Bakersfield, Calif.) grabbing attention on the defensive side of the ball. UBC's first-year defensive back had the best game of his young career, picking off two passes from Alberta quarterback Ben Kopczynski, and adding a 61-yard fumble return touchdown for good measure.
 
The win over Alberta sealed UBC's spot in the Canada West playoffs, but head coach Blake Nill is adamant that the knowledge that his team is assured a spot in the post-season doesn't change anything for him or his squad.
 
"We can't take our foot off the gas pedal for a minute," said Nill. "We have to keep getting better every week and continue to improve. It's nice that we're in the playoffs – it's an important part of building up the program here at UBC, but realistically, we haven't won anything yet, so we're not where any of [the coaching staff] envision us long term."
 
Whereas UBC is riding a bit of win streak, Saskatchewan is reeling after suffering a couple of blowout losses at the hands of the Calgary Dinos. The Huskies were stomped by margins of 59-19 and 44-15 in their last two games by the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
 
Despite their recent misfortunes, Nill is looking more at the Saskatchewan squad that came into Thunderbird Stadium and overwhelmed the Blue and Gold late last month as an example of what to expect on Friday.
 
In their 45-29 win over UBC on September 25, the Huskies racked up 501 yards and 26 first downs on offence, as running back Jarvis James posted 155 yards and two scores of his own on the ground. The T-Birds also had ball security issues in their last outing against the Huskies, with one fumble and two interceptions being key turning points in the contest.
 
Nill also admits that going into Saskatchewan, one of the most raucous football hotspots in all of Canada, always adds another layer of difficulty when playing the Huskies.
 
"Saskatchewan's always been a tough place to play – they play very well at home, there's a great atmosphere where the crowd gets involved a lot, and I think that motivates their players. We're just going to have to go in, and we're going to have to play better on our end. I thought, last game, Saskatchewan made a lot of really good plays, but we made some mistakes that we can't afford to make again.