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The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are living life at the top.
The Huskies clinched first place in the Canada West football standings last week with a 41-12 win over the University of Manitoba Bisons and are now assured home-field advantage for the Canada West playoffs.
It’s the first No. 1 finish for the program since 2010.
Head coach Scott Flory is feeling fine heading into the regular-season finale Saturday against the University of Calgary Dinos at Griffiths Stadium.
“It feels good. In such a short season you never knew how it was going to play out,” Flory said of his team’s place in the standings.
“I’m proud of the guys but we’re in no way done or somehow hanging our hats on first place. We know nothing is guaranteed.”
Flory, a Regina native and a Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee in 2018, took over the Huskies program in 2017 following the departure of 33-year head coach Brian Towriss.
Following a two-win season that year, Flory shocked the conference by leading the Huskies to a Hardy Cup victory in 2018 and another Hardy Cup appearance in 2019.
A win next weekend would assure the team of hosting a Hardy Cup for the first time since 2009.
“It’s the progression of our program,” Flory said. “I speak a lot to our guys about incrementalism — incrementally getting better each and every day. There are two things happening each and every day: You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.”
Under Flory, the team is seemingly getting better after a first-week 34-20 loss to the Dinos. Since then, the Huskies have outscored their opponents 166-71.
With playoffs on the horizon no matter what, Flory has decided to put the rest and recovery argument to bed early. All starters are expected to play in their usual roles.
“Anybody who is not playing is a medical decision,” Flory said. “Rest assured, we are not going to disrespect the game, our fans, our administration, our institution and the history of this program by going out there and saying, ‘We don’t care.’ We care. We’re playing to win the football game.”
Running back Adam Machart, the 2019 Hec Crighton nominee, and linebacker Nick Wiebe are just two of the marquee players injured last weekend awaiting medical clearance to play.
Quarterback Mason Nyhus will once again lead the Dogs onto the field to cap an impressive 2021 six-game season.
The fourth-year pivot is second in the nation with 14 touchdowns and is third in the nation in passing yards per game with 306.
“It has been an absolute race to the finish with six weeks. I haven’t crunched out all the numbers but I know regardless win or loss, we have a chance to play (Calgary) in the week following,” Nyhus said, looking at the possible playoff scenarios.
With revenge on their minds, Huskies players are looking to sink the Dinos and make a mess of possible playoff matchups.
“We know nothing is guaranteed. We’re definitely not satisfied by any stretch of the imagination,” Nyhus said.
With a loss, Calgary would be at risk of missing out on the postseason for the first time since 2006.
Kickoff on Saturday at Griffiths Stadium is set for 2 p.m.