The York University Lions football team will be heading to London, Ont., on Monday evening (Sept. 7) to face the Western Mustangs in its first road trip of the season.
 
Kick-off is set for 7pm at TD Waterhouse Stadium, and the game can also be seen live online on OUA.tv.
 
The Lions will be in tough against the No. 3 nationally-ranked Mustangs, who are perennial contenders in the OUA and one of the favourites to win the Yates Cup again this year. They boast a veteran, talented roster and are coming off a dominant 76-7 victory over the Windsor Lancers in their season opener last weekend.
 
In that contest, the Mustangs amassed more than 700 yards of total offence, with 39 first downs and 10 touchdowns, while holding the Lancers to only 189 yards and a single score. They are the highest-ranked OUA team in the CIS top 10.
 
The Lions, meanwhile, were defeated by the Laurier Golden Hawks in their own season opener, by a score of 38-21. The two squads were tightly-matched  on offence, with Laurier outgaining York by only 78 yards and earning two more first downs. But a defensive touchdown on an interception return as well as another interception and a fumble proved to be the difference on the afternoon.
 
For the Lions, the 401 total yards of offence was a significant improvement over last season, when they did not reach that threshold once and averaged just 257.3 yards per game. The breakthrough was thanks in large part to a massive recruiting class on offence that brought in many new pieces who made an immediate impact. Receiver Nathaniel Pinto (Toronto) earned York's male athlete of the week honours after leading all players in the game with seven catches and 108 yards, including an impressive 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown that was thrown by fellow rookie Brett Hunchak (Calgary).
 
Other rookies with notable debut performances include receiver Jacob Janke (Edmonton), who had a 42-yard kick-off return, and linebacker Jakob Butler (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 3.5 total tackles.
 
Western will be led by star quarterback Will Finch, who was an efficient 20-of-27 for 226 yards and two touchdowns before coming out of the game with the big lead. The Mustangs also have an impressive rushing attack that ran for 484 yards and saw five different players find the end zone against Windsor.
 
Defensively, Jean-Gabriel Poulin was named the OUA and CIS defensive player of the week after leading his team with six tackles and scoring a touchdown on a fumble return.
 
The Lions will be looking to push the Mustangs hard and redeem themselves after a challenging 60-0 defeat at York Stadium last year.
 
After Monday night's contest, the Lions will return home for their annual Homecoming game against another nationally-ranked opponent, the No. 6 Guelph Gryphons. Kick-off in that contest is set for 1pm at York Stadium.