There's a chance that Friday's Regina Rams visit to the University of British Columbia could be the last start for one of the most recognizable faces of the program this decade.
Noah Pelletier, the fifth-year quarterback from Balfour Collegiate, will start again in place of the injured Owen Sieben one week after guiding the Rams to a win over Manitoba, their second victory in as many games to start the season.
Rams head coach Mark McConkey confesses to being a bit sentimental about it all.
"He's one of my favourite players," McConkey said ahead of boarding a plane for Vancouver. "I'm hard on him at times, but that's the nature of the quarterback position. He's great. I'm glad he decided to come back and be a backup. It was just about his leadership and his relationship with the guys on the team and showing the new young quarterbacks how to do things the right way.
"He's been here a long time and he'll definitely be missed after the season."
Pelletier has started more games for the Rams than any other quarterback since the pandemic. He hasn't been sacked even once in eight starts plus some relief/short-yardage work going back to Regina's improbable appearance in the Mitchell Bowl, the national semifinal, in 2024.
Sieben sustained an injury to his non-throwing arm in the second half of a win at Alberta on Sept. 4 and could return as soon as next week against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The same is true for running back Marshall Erichsen, last year's runner-up for the Canada West player of the year who has yet to play this season due to a torn Achilles tendon suffered in last year's playoffs.
The Rams run game hasn't shown any weakness in Erichsen's absence this season. They've averaged 228 yards rushing per game led by big bruising senior Christian Katende and shifty first-year Carter Ashman, formerly of the Regina Thunder.
Meanwhile UBC, at 1-1 on the young season, has a new overnight sensation everyone following Canadian college football on the west coast is calling "Marvyn the Missile."
Freshman Marvyn Larozar, 18, rattled off 313 all-purpose yards, 285 along the ground with an eye-popping four touchdowns, in a 43-10 homecoming win over Alberta last week.
One might take such a dominant ground game against the lowly U of A Golden Bears with a grain of salt knowing they have a defensive front considered to be young and undersized. They're the same team that Regina gashed for over 200 yards a week earlier, too.
However, UBC piled up 419 rushing yards in that game, the third-highest rushing total in the program's 100-plus years of existence, according to the school's website. The Rams better be prepared for that on Friday.
Still, setting records against Alberta's young defence is one thing. Doing it against Regina's veteran-laded star-studded unit, is another.
Rams defensive coordinator Sheldon Gray says his guys will be ready for Larozar, who had three gallops of 30 yards or more in the fifth best individual rushing game in UBC history.
"He's a sprinter for sure," Gary said. "Didn't have a tonne of success in their first game, but in the second one he went off for some big runs. He's a home-run hitter.
"He's young, fast and he just goes."
It's an intriguing matchup for a Rams defence that defended the run better than anyone else in Canada West in 2025 and have yet to surrender an individual 100-yard rusher in the early going this season.
In fact, the Rams defensive unit didn't give up any points through the first three quarters in either of their first two matches. It's the first time a U of R defence has held the opposition to single digits in back-to-back games since 2012.
The national U-Sports ranking has the University of Regina Rams fourth in the entire country and tops in Canada West. The only other team in the conference to crack the top 10 was the Saskatchewan Huskies, who came in seventh.
Rain is often a factor in UBC home games but the forecast looks pretty good for Friday night. The game-time temperature is expected to be 19 C with no rain. This game will be carried live on www.620ckrm.com on the CKRM 2 feed found in the dropdown menu on the website.
