Burnaby, BC -The Simon Fraser University football team will be taking part in the inaugural Border Battle against the Central Washington Wildcats in Bothell, WA at 6pm Saturday.

 "Central Washington's Athletics Director Dennis Francois approached me last summer about the possibility of creating a Battle for the Border rivalry game, which I thought was an excellent idea," said SFU Senior Director of Athletics and Recreation, Dr. Milton Richards on how the game came to be.

"We have several alumni in Seattle, as does Central, so this will be an excellent opportunity for all of our fans to see a great college football game in their back yard."

Head Coach Jacques Chapdelaine knows not only is the game important on the field and for bragging rights, but also for recruiting.

"It's quite meaningful in terms of the GNAC itself," he said this week as the game also marks the conference opener. "It's a rivalry on many levels. Geographically we're close but also from a recruiting point of view, we're after the same kids.

"Although our recruiting doesn't expand as far in the US as maybe there's does, we still have a large amount of interest with U.S. high school students in the area and it's important for us to show and do well (in the game)."

SFU is looking to start the conference schedule off on the right foot and will be looking to build off of last week's second half performance where the team outscored Azusa Pacific 21-9.

The Clan came up just short of forcing overtime as SFU turned the ball over on downs in the red zone after recovering an onside kick with eleven seconds left in the game.

The Clan defence will look to shut down the Wildcats offence which averages just under 400 yards per-game and will be led by linebacker Jordan Herdman (Winnipeg, MB) who leads the GNAC with 42 tackles through three games.

But it may be up to the secondary, led by Cairo Messer-Barrow (Hamilton, ON), as Wildcats quarterback Jake Nelson comes in second in the conference in passing, averaging 273 yards per-game through the air.

It could be an air raid, as SFU's quarterback Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ) sits one spot behind Nelson in passing with 268 yards per-game through the air.

The two teams split last season's series, with each team winning on the road.