The stakes couldn't be any higher this Saturday at McMahon, as the Manitoba Bisons (3-4) and Calgary Dinos (2-5) battle for the final playoff spot in CanWest to close out the regular season. Manitoba is 4-0 against the Dinos dating back to the 2019 season, however they're facing Calgary team that's one of the hottest in the nation right now. Click here for the game program.

Calgary is coming off back-toback wins over nationally ranked opponents in UBC and Sask, and they'll aim for three victories in a row against the Herd. Historically, the Dinos have had Manitoba's number, going 26-15 over the last 28 years in the regular season, but Manitoba has been the more successful team as of late, including this year, where the Bisons defeated Calgary 34-21 at home in week five. Manitoba chalked up 316 yards in the contest, the second game in a row against the Dinos where they ran for over 300. Quarterback Jackson Tachinski tallied 110 of those yards, his first time going over 100 as a Bison.

Because of the result earlier this year, Calgary needs to beat Manitoba by 14 to guarantee the fourth and final playoff spot. A Manitoba win, or loss by less than 13 would earn them their fifth straight playoff berth, which would be a program record.

The return of third-year linebacker Daniel Flanagan has been a major story for Calgary. The Dinos are undefeated since the playmaker came back to the lineup against UBC two weeks ago, where he's amassed 13 tackles and two sacks. He is third in the conference with 6.3 tackles per game in the four contests he's been in, and will be key in the run game. On the back end, safety Daniel Flanagan leads the conference with four interceptions, while Winnipeg native Jordan Chizda is second in CanWest, with three. 

The key to this game will be how well the Dinos can contain Tachinski. He has 1419 yards of total offence since coming back from a week two injury, while his six rushing majors leads Canada West.

Additionally, leading receiver Brendt Adams -- a Calgary native -- consistently plays well against his hometown team. In two games against the Dinos, he has 11 catches for 188 yards and a major, while running back Breydon Stubbs' best rushing game also came against Calgary (169 rushing yards in 46-4 victory in 2022). Overall, Stubbs has 31 carries for 263 yards, three touchdowns and an 8.4 yards per carry average against the prehistorics.

Catch the game live on canadawest.tv at 3 pm local time.