Week six holds heavy playoff implications as the 2-3 Manitoba Bisons host the 2-3 UBC Thunderbirds at 12 pm at Princess Auto Stadium. 

The Herd and Thunderbirds, along with Calgary, are all sitting at 2-3 on the season, battling for the final two playoff spots in Canada West. Manitoba lost to UBC 21-9 in week one, and need a win tomorrow to boost their odds of vaulting over the T-Birds into third or fourth. Recent results have been in Manitoba's favour, as they are 3-0 at home against UBC dating back to 2019. 

Manitoba was in the red zone six times versus UBC in week one, showing plenty of promise offensively. Unfortunately, only two of those drives resulted in points, with two ending in turnovers. The Herd know they'll need to be more efficient this time around.

Quarterback Jackson Tachinski will be key offensively. He had 61 rushing yards and a score in week one and enters the contest with 1,627 career regular season rushing yards, the most by a pivot in school history, and tenth overall for the program. Tachinski's 18 career rushing touchdowns are also tied for fifth, just one short of matching Brett Watt for the most by a Bisons pivot. 

Defensively, a key storyline to follow will be the speed of UBC's receiving corps against an athletic, rangy Bisons secondary. Trey Montour (354 yards), Shemar McBean (323 yards) and Edgerrin Williams-Hernandez (203 yards) are all capable of going off for big plays for the visitors, and the trio combined for 12 receptions for 169 yards and three scores the last time the two sides faced off.

Meanwhile, Manitoba's defensive backfield, with four new starters, hasn't missed a beat since week one. The Bisons have combined for 18 pass breakups overall, led by five each from Marcus Wahl -- a rookie on the Herd who transferred from NCAA Division 1 North Dakota -- as well as redshirt freshman Carter Dallas. Their five PBUs are the fifth-most in a season in school history, just four shy of the single season record, set in 2017 by Marcel Arruda-Welch. 

Meanwhile, team captain Nic Pereira leads Manitoba and is tied for second in Canada West, with 25 solo tackles. That's a career high for the WILL linebacker, who's averaging 5.9 tackles per game for a Bisons defence that leads the conference, giving up just 93 points this season.