U of Sask. Huskies veterans feel urgency to prolong their final season of university football

Clovis Lumeka and Colton Klassen have been with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team for the past six years.

They have gone through almost everything a football player can experience, including having to miss a season because of the pandemic.

But neither have played in a Hardy Cup, which decides the Canada West champion, on home field.

That will change Saturday afternoon when the Huskies host the Manitoba Bisons at Griffiths Stadium at 1 p.m. CST in Saskatoon.

It will also be Lumeka and Klassen's last home game in a Huskie uniform.

"It's always playing with that mentality of, 'play every game like it's your last,' " said Lumeka, a fifth-year defensive back. "They tell you that since you're young, but the fact that this could really be it, it kind of makes it more real. It just feels different."

"There definitely is that that urgency," said Klassen, a fifth-year receiver and two-time Canada West all-star. "You try not to worry about it because I feel like if you're thinking like that, you're not playing loose, you're not playing free. But yeah, 100 per cent there is a sense of urgency."

Lumeka has been a standout on defence, able to run with the fleetest of receivers, but also mix it up in the trenches.

Klassen has been a star receiver after coming to the Huskies from the junior football Regina Thunder.

"I came to the team as a rookie in 2016 and had to kind of earn my way when I came over," Klassen said. "It's definitely been a journey. You go from just being a player and doing what you're asked to, you know, in my fourth year, becoming an executive leader on the team."

Lumeka came to the Huskies after Playing junior football in Langley, B.C.

He wasn't highly recruited and had to earn his way onto the field.

"I definitely had to get bigger and continue to get faster with my game," Lumeka said.

On Saturday they will face an speedy Bisons team that can score.

Lumeka said Manitoba has athletic receivers and a young quarterback that can move around.

"They're very explosive over the top. So we just have to make sure they don't beat us over the top and make sure we can corral their quarterback and not let them run around."

The Huskies are on a six-game winning streak. Klassen said they will be concentrating on what they do best as opposed to worrying about the opposition's strengths.

"We've been preaching all year is to just be us," he said. "If we go out there and do what we do in practice and do what we're capable of … we're going to be just fine."

If the Huskies win, the team will move on to the USport semi-finals with a chance at going to the Vanier Cup.

"I still feel like we're not at our full potential," Lumeka said. "I feel like we'll get there if we continue to win and improve every week."

"It's went by fast, It's crazy to think it has been six years already," said Klassen. "Definitely winning the Vanier would be the best way to go out."