RSEQ University football: Announcement of 2013 schedule

MONTRÉAL, Feb. 22 – The Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec today unveiled its 2013 university football schedule. This year the RSEQ will return to an eight-game schedule with all teams having Thanksgiving weekend off.

The season kicks off on Aug. 31, with two games: the Montréal Carabins will take on cross-town rival, the Concordia Stingers in the afternoon, and Laval Rouge & Or will defend its provincial championship on their own turf against the McGill Redmen in the evening. The battle for the Mayor’s Cup – to decide which team will claim university football supremacy in Sherbrooke – will take place on Sept. 1st, when the Bishop’s Gaiters host their neighbours, the Sherbrooke Vert & Or.

RSEQ university football fans will want to mark Sept. 7, in their calendars for the much anticipated 2012 Dunsmore Cup rematch. Sherbrooke Vert & Or players will be cheered on by their supporters as they try to avenge their loss in the provincial final against the Laval Rouge & Or.

Highlights of the 2013 RSEQ university football calendar:

• Four teams will be facing representatives from the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) for inter-conference games on Sept. 14. Laval and McGill will be on the road to play Acadia Axemen and Mount Allison Mounties, while Montréal and Concordia will face Saint Mary’s Huskies and St. Francis Xavier X-Men at home.

• CEPSUM will be filled with fans in blue and white on Sept. 29, as Sherbrooke comes to town to take on the Carabins in a rematch of last year’s Dunsmore Cup semifinal, in which the Vert & Or overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat the Carabins 42–24.

• 27th annual Shrine Bowl will pit the McGill Redmen against the Concordia Stingers on Sept. 28, at Concordia Stadium. The 26 previous editions raised nearly $1 million for the Montreal Shriners Hospital for Children.

• As the Montréal Carabins are one of the very few teams to beat the Laval Rouge & Or over the last few seasons, they couldn’t be more motivated when they take them on again Sept. 22, in Quebec City. The two teams will play each other again at CEPSUM during the last weekend of the regular season on Oct. 26, in a game that is already highly anticipated.

The regular season will end on Oct. 26, when the six teams fight for one of the four available playoff spots. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, November 2. RSEQ University Football will conclude with the presentation of the Dunsmore Cup, presented by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton on Nov. 9.

SCHEDULE