Spirits are high at practice this week for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team, soaking in some rare October heat with just two games left in their regular season.
The Huskies have been able to climb out of the Canada West cellar to capture wins in three of their last four games, reversing course on a slow start to their year.
That’s included a 42-24 thrashing of the Manitoba Bisons at home last Friday, handing the top-ranked visitors their first loss of the 2024 season.
“As an offence every week I feel like we’re getting better,” said Huskies quarterback Anton Amundrud. “We’re getting more detailed and I think that showed last game. We were very productive and we held it mostly through four quarters.”
Entering a conference-wide bye week, the Huskies believe they are playing their best football of the year climbing into third in the Canada West standings with a 3-3 record.
According to defensive back Hunter Laing, who earned himself an interception against the Bisons, all three phases of the game are finally clicking together in offence, defence and special teams.
“We never lost confidence in who we are,” said Laing. “We knew we were talented, we knew we had the piece. Ultimately, it just came to coming together and playing the football that we know we can.”
Despite a gap of 15 days between their upset win over Manitoba and their next contest hosting the Regina Rams, head coach Scott Flory isn’t concerned about losing momentum.
Instead, he’s focusing on dialing in on the minute details with the same level of intensity in practice over their bye.
“We can’t lose the fundamentals,” said Flory. “You still got to block, catch, tackle. You still got to do all of those things, so I don’t look at it like a negative at all.
“Everybody is going through it — we didn’t schedule it, but we’re here. We’re in it, we’re going to get better, we’re going to take the time and get better during it.”
The Huskies will renew their rivalry with Regina at Griffiths Stadium on October 19 at 1:00 pm, before visiting the Calgary Dinos on October 26 to close out the regular season.