CIS Football Top 10 – #4

CFL.ca Staff

OTTAWA – The Laval Rouge et Or are a unanimous choice for a third straight week atop the CIS football media poll following a 36-13 road win over the nationally-ranked Concordia Stingers.
 
With the victory, five-time defending QUFL champion Laval improved to 3-0 for the fourth consecutive year. The Rouge et Or have led all four national rankings thus far this season and have now been ranked No. 1 in 43 of the past 44 CIS polls, dating back to 2005.
 
Kicker Christopher Milo had a career day against the No. 9 Stingers (2-1) booting a personal-best seven field goals in as many attempts, which ties him for second place on the CIS single-game list, two behind the all-time record set by Concordia’s Warren Kean in 2006.
 
Laval and Concordia face off again on Sunday in Quebec City. The Rouge et Or are riding a nine-game overall winning streak against their archrivals – including 5-0 in conference play – since a 38-30 loss on Oct. 4, 2003.
 
Rounding out the new CIS Top 10 are the No. 2 Western Ontario Mustangs (4-0), No. 3 Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-0), No. 4 Queen’s Gaels (4-0), No. 5 Ottawa Gee-Gees (3-1), No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (2-1), No. 7 Simon Fraser Clan (3-1), No. 8 Sherbrooke Vert & Or (3-0) and No. 10 Calgary Dinos (2-2).
 
Western, Saint Mary’s, Queen’s and Ottawa all stay put following lopsided wins, while Saskatchewan also holds on to its previous position after a bye week.
 
Ottawa quarterback Josh Sacobie threw six touchdown passes in a 59-0 shutout of Waterloo to push his career total to 75, second best on the CIS all-time list behind three-time Hec Crighton Trophy winner Chris Flynn, who had 87 for Saint Mary’s from 1987-90.
 
The upstart Simon Fraser Clan move up one spot following an impressive 20-3 victory over Calgary. After entering the season on a 25-game losing streak, SFU is off to a 3-1 start for the first time since joining Canada West in 2002.
 
The loss costs the Dinos one position in the media poll.
 
Sherbrooke cracks the Top 10 for the first time this fall. The Vert & Or scored their first-ever victory over Montreal on Saturday, 37-20, and are 3-0 for the first time since joining the Quebec conference in 2003.    
 
This week’s schedule features the much-anticipated duel for first place in Ontario between No. 2 Western and No. 4 Queen’s, in Kingston. The showdown will be televised live on The Score at 1 p.m.
 
A year ago, Queen’s edged Western 26-20 in overtime in week one of the regular season, but the Mustangs avenged the loss with a 27-19 win in the first round of the OUA playoffs en route to claiming their first Yates Cup title since 1998. 
 
MITSUBISHI TOP 10 (#4)
 
Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point system, with a first-place vote worth 10 points. The CIS Football Top Ten Committee is made up of 11 members of media from across Canada. A total of nine national rankings will be released for the 2008 season, with the final Top 10 being released once all teams have completed the regular season.

Other teams receiving votes: StFX (4), UBC (2), Manitoba (2), Bishop’s (1).

CIS FOOTBALL WEEK 6 SCHEDULE (all times LOCAL)

Friday, Sept. 26
7:00 pm York (0-4) at McMaster (1-3)
7:00 pm Alberta (1-3) at No. 6 Saskatchewan (2-1)    
 
Saturday, Sept. 27
1:00 pm No. 5 Ottawa (3-1) at Windsor (2-2)
1:00 pm Toronto (2-2) at Guelph (1-3)
1:00 pm No. 2 Western (4-0) at No. 4 Queen’s (4-0), The Score
1:00 pm Laurier (2-2) at Waterloo (1-3)
1:00 pm McGill (0-3) at Montreal (1-2)
1:00 pm UBC (2-2) at No. 10 Calgary (2-2), Shaw TV
2:00 pm StFX (2-1) at Mount Allison (0-3)
3:00 pm No. 7 Simon Fraser (3-1) at Regina (1-2)
3:30 pm No. 8 Sherbrooke (3-0) at Bishop’s (1-2), RDS
7:30 pm No. 3 Saint Mary’s (3-0) at Acadia (0-3), EastLink
 
Sunday, Sept. 28
1:00 pm No. 9 Concordia (2-1) at No. 1 Laval (3-0)