The 2014 OUA football season is now underway and the Western Mustangs will make their regular season debut this weekend as they travel to Toronto to take on the York Lions on Saturday, September 6. The Mustangs will be looking to open up the season strongly, and begin their quest to claim the 31^st Yates Cup in university history.

While the Mustangs started off the season with a bye week Saturday's game will be the Lions second game of the season, and they will be heading into the match determined to improve from last week's performance after suffering a 51-7 defeat to the Ottawa Gee-Gees in their season opener.

The Mustangs have had an extra week to prepare for their season opener, and they have certainly not let the extra time go to waste. Players have been working hard in training camp, and the purple and white come into the season fired up and ready to defend their title. Western has historically come out on top against the Lions as the Mustangs hold a 38-1 all-time record against York, and they intend to continue this trend this weekend.

Offensively, third year quarterback and 2013 OUA MVP Will Finch is back to lead the Mustangs and looks to continue the success of last season after throwing an OUA record 3,047 passing yards. Finch will have his favourite targets available once again, including George Johnson who is also back and hoping to build on his stellar 2013 season, in which he led the OUA in receiving yards after recording 982 yards on the season.

On the York offence, the Lions have a new face behind centre as Nikko Stamatis takes over as quarterback after the graduation of star Myles Gibbon. Stamatis has big shoes to fill, and will be looking to put up a strong performance to prove he can handle the challenge.

On the defensive side of the ball, Daryl Waud is certainly a Western player to watch. He is considered one of the top prospects for the 2015 CFL Canadian Draft, and will be leading a strong defensive line that also features 2013 OUA all-star Ricky Osei-Kusi as well as tackles Rory Connop and Rupert Butcher. Also joining the Mustangs defensive unit this year is Phil N'Djore, a transfer from the Bishops Gaiters who recorded 28.5 stops last season, and will look to make his mark as a Mustang.

After the departure of James Tuck, who was drafted by the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, the York defence will now look to sophomore Cole Austen to make an impact. Austen has shown promise in training camp, and doesn't show signs of disappointing. Veteran linebackers Hussein Hazime, Emerson Morassutti, and Michael Runowski all make their returns to the Lions and look to be key contributors this weekend.

A key loss for the Mustangs last year was kicker Lirim Hajrallahu, who ended his intercollegiate career as the CIS' all-time leading scorer. Joining the Mustangs to take over kicking duties is Zach Medeiros, a transfer from the Université de Montréal Carabins who attened the CFL regional combine in Toronto this past March, and was one of only three kickers to make the CFL selection list. This will be his first game donning the purple and white, and all eyes will be on him to see if he can fill the shoes of Hajrallahu.

For York kicking duties will be taken care of by Nick Naylor, who had a successful debut campaign with the Lions last year after transferring from the University of Manitoba.

Game time is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday at York Stadium in Toronto. Fans can watch the action live on OUA.tv, listen on CHRW, or on CJBK 1290 AM with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.