GAME NOTES: Some of the nation's top college football players will be on display this Saturday at Tropicana Field, as the 90th East-West Shrine Game takes center stage.

The game, which began back in 1925, pits players from some of the best college programs in the country, as well as some invitees from Canada, as they showcase their abilities one more time for the professional scouts in attendance.

The East-West Shrine Game is also a philanthropic endeavor, as proceeds benefit the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children spread out across North America. The players will visit the hospital location in Tampa as part of their week in the Sunshine State.

This is the fourth straight year the game is being played in Tampa, and the East won last year's tussle, 23-13, to snap a two-game losing streak. Overall, the West leads the series, 47-37-5.

The coaches for this particular matchup feature a pair of former NFL luminaries in Mike Singletary (East) and Jim Zorn (West). Both had exceptional playing careers, with Singletary being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. They each have also served as a head coach in the NFL, with Singletary leading the San Francisco 49ers (2008-10), and Zorn the Washington Redskins (2008-09).

The East offensive roster for 2015 doesn't feature a ton of elite performers, but there are certainly some skilled players all hoping to raise an eyebrow or two in what could be their final chance to do so.

The three quarterbacks expected to see action are Duke's Anthony Boone, Georgia's Mason Hutson, and Taylor Heinicke of Old Dominion. Boone completed 56.3 percent of his passes this season, doing so for an even 2,700 yards, 19 TDs and eight INTs, while Mason hit nearly 68 percent of his throws for 2,168 yards, 21 TDs and only four picks. Heinicke, the 2012 Walter Payton Award winner (best player in the FCS) who threw for nearly 15,000 yards and accounted for 132 total TDs in his career, could be the one guy who capitalizes on the opportunity the most, as he converted 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,476 yards, 30 TDs and 16 INTs this season.

A pair of LSU Tigers in Terrence Magee (571 yards, three TDs) and Kenny Hilliard (447 yards, six TDs), along with Louisville's Dominique Brown (378 yards, four TDs), are expected to carry the workload out of the backfield.

As far as guys hoping to make plays down the field, Michigan QB Devin Gardner has made the switch to wideout, while Michigan State's Keith Mumphrey (26 receptions, 495 yards, three TDs), Maryland's Deon Long (51 recs., 575 yards, two TDs) and 6-foot-5 Georgia Tech product Darren Waller (26 rec., 442 yards, six TDs), will all be trying to elevate their potential draft stock.

As for the guys in the trenches, the best of the bunch appear to be Sean Hickey of Syracuse and Louisville's John Miller.

On the defensive side of the ball, the best the East has to offer is likely 6- foot-5 Kentucky DE Za'Darius Smith, as he wreaked havoc on many an opponent in 2014 by registering 61 total tackles, which included 4.5 sacks. Others to keep an eye on up front include Miami-Florida DE Anthony Chickillo (three sacks) and Maryland run-stuffer Darius Kilgo (eight TFL).

At the second level, Maryland LB Cole Farrand is coming off a 118-tackle season, while Georgia's Amarlo Herrera logged 115 stops.

In the secondary, Georgia's Damian Swann and Tennessee's Justin Coleman are hoping to add to the four interceptions each posted this season, while safety Parrish Gaines secured three picks as one of the leaders on Navy's defense. Texas State's Craig Mager had three INTs as well.

The West will go with quarterbacks Cody Fajardo, Taylor Kelly and Dylan Thompson. Fajardo, who led the Nevada Wolf Pack from under center, is one of the top dual-threat QBs in the country, as he rushed for 1,046 yards and 13 TDs, while throwing for 2,498 yards and 18 scores this season. As for Arizona State's Kelly, he hit nearly 60 percent of his passes for 2,114 yards, 22 TDs and only five INTs. Thompson, who suited up for South Carolina, was also a near-60 percent passer who accumulated an impressive 3,564 yards, 26 TDs and 11 picks in 2014.

The receivers for the West include Arizona's Austin Hill (49 recs., 635 yards, four TDs), Rice's Jordan Taylor (54 rec., 842 yards, seven TDs) and Northern Illinois' Da'Ron Brown (68 rec., 1,065 yards, six TDs), among others.

As for the running backs, expect to see plenty of Malcolm Brown, the Texas Longhorn who rumbled his way to 708 yards and six TDs this season. A pair of players who excelled at the FCS level, North Dakota State's John Crockett (368 carries, 1,994 yards, 21 TDs), and Zachary Zenner (337 carries, 2,019 yards, 22 TDs) of South Dakota State, are hoping to log significant carries as well.

The line for the West boasts several standout performers, among them UNLV's Brett Boyko, Adam Shead of Oklahoma, and B.J. Finney of Kansas State.

The defense for Zorn's side features a slew of gifted playmakers at the point of attack, notably TCU DT Chucky Hunter (9.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks), James Castleman (8.0 TFL, 3.5 sacks) of Oklahoma State, San Jose State's Travis Raciti (72 tackles, 6.5 TFl, 3.0 sacks), and Xavier Williams (93 tackles, 14.0 TFL, 8.0 sacks) from Northern Iowa.

The linebackers are all ballhawks, with the best of the lot being Big 12 stars Bryce Hager (114 tackles, 12 TFL) of Baylor, and Ben Heeney (127 tackles, 12 TFL) from Kansas. Oregon's Tony Washington (60 tackles, 11.5 TFL, 6.0 sacks) is a talent is his own right, and all three will likely be playing football on Sundays later this year.

The defensive backfield for the West has one of the more intriguing players in USC's Josh Shaw. Considered one of the top defensive backs in the country prior to this past season, Shaw got wrapped up in a controversial off-the- field situation that resulted in him being suspended for a large part of the campaign. He appeared in only three games, finishing with 11 tackles, but there is no denying his talent and he could really help himself with a good showing in this game.

Others to watch in the secondary include Bobby McCain (five INTs) and Fritz Etienne (three INTs) of Memphis, TCU's Sam Carter (four INTs), Nebraska's Corey Cooper (73 tackles) and Eastern Washington's Tevin McDonald (78 tackles, three INTs).

The final score certainly means very little in the grand scheme of things, but expect the West to get back in the win column as Fajardo and Brown lead the way on offense, and Heeney and Hager do the same on defense.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Shrine-West 30, Shrine-East 21