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Montreal Carabins quarterback Gabriel Cousineau throws a pass during first half CIS university football semifinal action against the Manitoba Bisons in Montreal, Saturday, November 22, 2014.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

Playing in their home city will be a boost to the University of Montreal Carabins, but experience will be on the McMaster Marauders' side in the Vanier Cup game.

More than 20,000 tickets had been sold by the time the teams' coaches and a few players from each side gathered for a news conference on Wednesday ahead of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship football game.

A sellout crowd of 23,500, most of them wearing Carabins blue and white, is expected for Saturday's game at Percival Molson Stadium, the Montreal Alouettes' home field on the McGill University campus downtown.

"We're playing on a bigger stage, for sure, but we're not feeling any more pressure," said Carabins quarterback Gabriel Cousineau, whose team downed the Manitoba Bisons in the Uteck Bowl at their 5,100-seat CEPSUM Stadium last Saturday. "It's an opportunity to play in our city in front of our fans and we hope we'll give them a good show."

The Carabins are in their first Vanier Cup after finally downing the powerhouse Laval Rouge et Or, who had won 11 straight conference titles.

The Marauders will be in their third Vanier Cup in four years. They beat Laval in 2011 in Vancouver and lost to the Rouge et Or in 2012 in Toronto.

Now they are headed onto their opponent's turf to try for a second title.

"We're excited to be on the national stage and play our best football in front of what know will be an exciting environment and a very blue crowd," said Marauders quarterback Marshall Ferguson, who will be playing his last CIS game. "The crowd noise plays into making it more difficult to achieve that goal.

"Playing far away from home, it should make a difference, but once the ball's kicked off, aside from the noise, it's all just football. We need to look at the micro and not the macro. Make sure we eliminate errors, turnovers and things like that because that's what wins football games."

Coach Stefan Ptaszek said Vanier Cup experience will come in handy. There are 12 players left from their last trips to the final, and the victory in 2011 was perhaps their biggest moment.

"We were naive," said Ptaszek. "We hadn't been to the game in 44 years and that ignorance was bliss.

"We just let it all hang out and played. Now, being more educated on how good the (Quebec conference) can be and how they can be beastly and overwhelming at times, that knowledge isn't a bad thing. This team doesn't sneak up on us. We're very aware of what we're getting into. We can't be overly freaked out by the great film we're seeing of Montreal."

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