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Canada’s winningest university football coach is, like Sargeant, a Saskatoon institution: Brian Towriss won 196 with the Saskatchewan Huskies between 1984 and 2016.

On the junior front, nobody has come close to 200.

“What it does,” Sargeant says, “is it validates the great coaches I have, and the great program I get to work for. If I’m the first coach to get to 200, I guess that’s saying something, in light of living and leading a full-time job as a principal and a teacher. To keep everything between the lines … yeah. That would be a pretty proud moment for my family, for the club, my coaches, everybody. Because everyone’s had a significant piece in allowing me to get these opportunities.”

The Hilltops haven’t lost more than two games in a regular season since Sargeant took over. He went 7-1, 8-1 and 8-0 those first three campaigns, but didn’t win a Canadian Bowl until Year No. 4.

“The first three or four years, all I wanted to do was win one championship for the club,” he says. “That was all I wanted to do. After that, the rest has been gravy.”

Sargeant is known as a demanding coach — quick to find and coach up weaknesses, hard to satisfy, willing and exhorting his team to ever-greater heights. He expects a lot, from himself and those who play for him.

“He’s so knowledgeable,” says fourth-year Hilltops’ running back Ben Abrook, who carried 31 times for 144 yards during Sunday’s season-opening 34-20 win over the host Winnipeg Rifles. “He gets respect out of his players, and he knows how to get the most out of people.