Nothing like the boot prints of the Calgary Dinos all over their collective backsides to ignite a fire under the Saint Mary’s Huskies in 2010.

 

Steve Sumarah’s Huskies, the three-time defending AUS football champions, open training camp Saturday knowing the same Dinos under Blake Nill that clubbed them 38-14 in last year’s Uteck Bowl in Halifax could await this year’s AUS winner in a rematch to be hosted by the Canada West champs.

 

The road to a national title for the AUS is about as tough as it gets with the Vanier Cup at Laval, possibly against an ever-dangerous Rouge et Or squad, on Nov. 27.

 

"We got on a nice run last year and reeled off eight straight wins and we felt pretty good about ourselves," said Sumarah. "Then Calgary came down and physically manhandled us.

 

"We spent a whole off-season trying to prepare ourselves physically — get a little bigger and get a little stronger. It’s like any team in the CIS right now we’re excited to see what’s going to happen."

 

All four AUS teams have high hopes as camps open across the conference. But the Huskies have fewer question marks than their conference rivals.

 

Answers will come quickly with the Huskies visiting the Acadia Axemen on Sept. 11. The Mount Allison Mounties host the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the other opener that day.

 

The interlocking format has changed this year with only one weekend of play between the AUS and Quebec conferences. Those games come in Week 2 with Laval’s visit to Huskies Stadium the highlight.

 

The Huskies beat St. F.X. 31-22 in last season’s Loney Bowl.

 

Saint Mary’s (7-1): Sumarah has an established quarterback in Jack Creighton, although Micah Brown from Tampa, Fla., will draw some attention, and a pair of outstanding running backs in Devon Jones and Craig Leger. The team wants one rusher to win the No. 1 job rather than split the work.

 

The offensive line, with Adam Baboulas back from CFL camp, has some veterans but the receiver group will be largely new except for former AUS top rookie Jahmeek Murray. Citadel’s Harrison Brown is a prize recruit.

 

Former all-Canadian Dan Schutte, injured most of last year, should be a stalwart on the defensive line. Linebackers Leroy Fontaine and Ryan King along with defensive backs Mark Holden and Bryce Fisher are key returnees. Lineman Devon Hicks, the AUS defensive player of the year, is the biggest loss.

 

SMU lost record-setting kicker Justin Palardy to the CFL, but returns Rodrigo Davalos. Davalos was a member of SMU’s 2003 Vanier Cup team.

 

St. Francis Xavier (6-2): The three-time bridesmaids in the Uteck Bowl are in need of a No. 1 quarterback and a go-to wide receiver with the departure of Steve Snyder to graduation and Akeem Foster to the CFL. They also lost 2008 all-Canadian running back James Green, though his 2009 numbers didn’t meet expectations.

 

But the team that started 5-0 a season ago under rookie head coach Gary Waterman has a reason to get excited on the defensive side with the return of all-Canadian linebackers Tom Lynch and Henoc Muamba and defensive back Dylan Hollohan. Defensive linemen Nate Annan and Tom Narbaitz showed big promise in their first seasons in Antigonish.

 

Defensive ends Dave Skillen and Yahia Dalloul and defensive backs Cauchy Muamba and Kwasi Nkansah are meaningful losses.

 

Acadia Axemen (2-6): A team that won back-to-back titles in 2005-06 hasn’t been close since and will try to climb back to the top with several trouble spots and at least one glaring rebuilding project.

 

The Axemen have lost a steady quarterback in Keith Lockwood and their most talented and explosive receiver in Devon Jones.

 

But camp will be all about finding protection with offensive linemen Greg Kinsman, Greg Knight, Chris Cartwright and Erik Watson, who all started in last November’s semifinal loss to St. F.X., gone from Raymond Field.

 

Running back Brett Haenni, with 5.4 yards per carry in 2009, and receivers Taylor Renaud and Josh Pearsall give the offence some quality pieces to build upon.

 

All-Canadian defensive back Mike Miller, linebacker Tom Labenski, defensive end Adrian Saturley and defensive back Mike Rostance will lead a defence that lost No. 2 tackler Taylor Shadgett, a linebacker, to a steroid suspension in the off-season.

 

Mount Allison (0-8): How great is receiver/returner Gary Ross? He won AUS most outstanding player on a team without a single win.

 

Ross, the best reason to watch Mount A for years, is back for his final season. He had 60 catches, a conference record, in 2009 and already owns the AUS marks for catches in a career (172) and receiving yards (2,470).

 

Quarterback Jake Hotchkiss took strides forward in his rookie year and Matt Pickett is a capable running back. The team returns all of its starters on offence.

 

Former SMU assistant coach Scott Annand takes over a defence that ranked second-worst in the nation last year with 348 points allowed. Bradley Daye, Ben Halpern, Jeremy Snider and Akwasi Antwi, who broke the AUS single-season record for tackles last year, will be among the leaders.

 

( mmosher@herald.ca)

 

This page last modified Sunday, 07-Nov-2010 16:43:31 AST