Marshall Ferguson knows he’s not going to make the Calgary Stampeders out of training camp – he feigned surprise when broken the news.

Instead, the fourth-year signal caller from McMaster University is at McMahon Stadium trying to soak up all the information he can in a relatively new CFL initiative to develop Canadian quarterbacks.

“My real priority is to make McMaster University football better off after this experience,” said Ferguson, a native of Kingston, Ont.

Since the start of rookie camp last Thursday, he’s been learning the intricacies of the game from some of the best the CFL has to offer, including offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson and quarterbacks Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn.

He works with them during the individual group time and receives snaps under centre during team drills.

“I view this experience as my responsibility to take as much in as possible,” Ferguson said.

It’s a responsibility he’s taken seriously. This year will be his first opportunity at the reigns of the famous McMaster Marauders football program after learning the ropes from Kyle Quinlan for the last three seasons.

He spoke of the different cadences or motions that could be implemented at McMaster in hopes of making this a successful season.  

“I’ve learned a lot from Quinlan over the years,” he said. “He had the chance to do this program with the Ticats and he came back and made our team better.

“I’m not going to take every idea back because we have a lot already in, but to pick and choose can help make us a better football program.”

For a week, he’s been tossed into the proverbial fire, trying to learn as much knowledge as possible.

“There is a lot to learn and the pace is very fast and there is a lot more expected out of you than the normal CIS training camp I’m used to,” he said. “But it’s a positive experience to be put in a situation you’re not used to.”

It’s opened his eyes to the scary degree of coaching and players at the next level. He’s dreamed for a long time about possibly coaching football at the CFL.

“Now that I’ve got here, I see the amount of work that Dave puts in and how specific everything he does is, I’m not sure I’m that guy anymore,” Ferguson admits. “After watching Dave, I don’t know if I could put in the same type of attention to detail because he’s a machine.”

Either way, the gun-slinger will enjoy all he can with the Stampeders before he’s told to turn in his playbook and head back to McMaster.