‘About as good as it gets’

By Arash Madani, Special to CW

Football has been a focal point as long as Seth can remember. A fixture on the living room television in the Poelzer home. The topic of conversation in the car, driving around Okotoks. Around the dinner table. When dad and his college pals would get together. When deciding what sports to play as a young child.

Seth was barely out of diapers when he’d sit down to watch his favourite player run ruthlessly with the football. The little boy’s eyes would get bigger and bigger when Marshawn Lynch carried the mail for the Seattle Seahawks. Those long gallops, the punishing runs and yards after contact.

Then came 2011, the Wildcard game that shook the football universe: Lynch, Beast Quake, and in southern Alberta that January afternoon, Seth spun around and told his father, Mark, that would be him one day.

“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Seth says, a decade-and-a-half after Lynch’s iconic touchdown run over the Saints. “Man, Marshawn just refused to go down. It’s one of the things I aspire to be like.”

Fifteen football seasons have come and gone since Lynch bulldozed, stiff-armed and dove backwards into the end zone. And now in 2026, Seth Poelzer has lived up to the promise he made his dad as a young boy. On a mild autumn Friday night, about a 40-minute drive from that living room, the game hung in the balance on a record-setting night for Alberta’s tailback.

He had already rushed 24 times for 296 yards, the most in school history, but the next touch would be the most important. With the Golden Bears leading the Calgary Dinos 35-27, and 70 seconds remaining in regulation, the shotgun snap was handed to Poelzer who took a step to his left and then broke to the right, blowing by defensive back Ryder Frampton and into the end zone for a game-sealing touchdown and an epic celebration. Like the Beast Quake, eight teammates mobbed Poelzer in the end zone. Big James Carr, the 315-pound offensive lineman who blocked for him all night, lifted Seth up into the air in triumph.

The Golden Bears had their first win and Poelzer, a night for the ages. A 312-yard rushing performance on 25 carries, the fifth-best in Canada West history. Poelzer did it as a sophomore. With four generations of the family – from Seth’s grandmother to his sister’s kid – at McMahon Stadium to watch it happen.

Dad was one of them, of course. Mark has been a pivotal part of the whole football journey. The payoff that night was years in the making.

“Seth has always been a self-starter,” Mark Poelzer says. “When he’s passionate about something, he puts it all into it.”

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The kid in the living room watching Marshawn always had a passion for the game. It was in seventh grade that he decided it was time to follow in dad’s footsteps. Mark was a fullback – back when football actually deployed fullbacks – on the 1990 Saskatchewan Huskies that won the Vanier Cup.

So when Seth began to play in pee-wee, naturally he was a running back for the Foothill Eagles and then began to really blossom at the bantam level. In his second season, as a 14-year-old, he was named the Calgary Bantam Football Association’s player-of-the-year. The success helped, of course, but there’s so much more to football that the young Poelzer drew enjoyment from: the physicality, the competition.

“And it’s the ultimate team sport,” Seth says. “There’s nothing like it.”

His exposure to the University of Alberta came in Grade 10 – there was a strong selects program and Seth became part of it. He appreciated the culture around the Golden Bears, and it mattered to him that the U of A is such a strong academic school. The commitment to join the program didn’t take long.

As a freshman with the Golden Bears last year, Poelzer played every game of what was such an eye-opening experience. Through the 79 carries in his rookie season, Seth realized how different the level and the speed of the university game is. That the margin for error is so much smaller in Canada West for a play to work.

“You need everyone to be meshing together to have any kind of success, snap in and snap out,” he says.

But more than just that, Poelzer has gained more of an understanding of what is unfolding before him once a play begins. This 2026 campaign has been about thinking less when seeing gaps and instead, trusting instincts to just attack.

“When you overthink what’s happening on the field, you make decisions slower and don’t get to right gaps fast enough,” Seth explains. “I want to be in a spot where I hit it when I see it.”

It was on display in his historic performance against the Dinos. On cut-back runs, he maneuvered without hesitation. The touchdown that cemented the win looked as if it was one fluid motion, even with the change of direction.

“Not overthinking it has really sped up my game this year, too,” Poelzer says. He’ll be the first to tell you, there’s a lot less second guessing now and that’s helped his confidence.

The learning never stops. As games now unfold, Poelzer is paying attention to how defenses play the run – do they over pursue more or less than others? Where may the soft spots be to attack accurately?

“People talk about vision with running backs. I want to see what’s going on, on the whole field,” Seth says.

He knows there’s more size required if he’s to emulate ‘Beast Mode.’ The mission is to put 15 more pounds onto his 5-foot-10 frame to tip the scales at 205. Poelzer knows that will add power to his runs. The off-season plan is to emphasize route running and catching, making him a dual threat.

Conversations are ongoing with dad, too. About how the game has become more physical and spacing is tighter. Over the years, father and son have watched plenty of film together. The value is evident of being a north-south runner.

“It’s really helped me to hit the gaps as quickly as I can now and (that) catches defences off-guard,” Seth says.

Beyond x’s and o’s, Mark often reminds his son that there is nothing better than team success. There is an unbreakable bond with the 1990 Saskatchewan Huskies.

“I’ve talked to my son about what winning a championship is like and I want him to experience it,” Mark says.

And that fires Seth up even more.

“My dad likes to remind me that he has the Vanier and I don’t,” Seth says with a grin. “I have an internal drive to win a championship. The national championship in university football is about as good as it gets.”

The journey continues, with so much left to accomplish. From the beginning, it was all about football. Carrying the football. Running with the football. In a season that’s already had its share of history, it’s just kind of getting started for Seth Poelzer – with Mark there, the reminder and motivator of what peak success can be.

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Up Next

The Golden Bears continue a tough road trip this Friday as they head to Saskatoon to take on the conference leading University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CST from Griffiths Stadium. Fans can stream the game on BioSteel Canada West TV, or watch on SaskTel max TV Ch. 49.

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Read more CW Football Coverage from Arash Madani

'Pedal to the Metal Ever Since' - Nathan Jule (Saskatchewan Huskies)

In pursuit of… “normal” - Marshall Erichsen (Regina Rams)

Different, yet the same - Jackson Tachinski (Manitoba Bisons)

Eating off the same plate - Zack Davis (Calgary Dinos)

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Historic Highlights

View the full game highlight pack from Seth's historic Week 4 performance at Calgary.

About the Author

Well known to sports fans across Canada, Arash Madani is a national sports broadcaster who has travelled the world covering some of the biggest events in sport. Canada West is proud to welcome Arash as a contributor to its football coverage team for the 2026 season.

About Canada West:

Canada West has been Building Champions Since 1919. As the leading university athletic conference in the country, Canada West is home to student-athletes that excel in the classroom and their communities. The conference comprises 18 member institutions spanning from Victoria to Winnipeg, with over 3,200 student-athletes competing across 14 sports. Canada West’s mission is to train leaders and build champions by providing leadership in the delivery, regulation, and promotion of university level high performance sports programs throughout western Canada.