During the Stampeders last game against the Toronto Argonauts, Charleston Hughes was up to his usual, quarterback-harassing ways.

Registering one sack of the Argos’ Zach Collaros, Hughes seemed to be within arm’s length all night long. No doubt Collaros went home constantly checking over his shoulder for the speedy defensive end.

However, CFL QBs have been learning — and learning the hard way — that there is more than one reason to fear when playing Calgary.

This year, Cordarro Law has burst on to the scene, leaving his own trail of quivering pivots in his wake during his first year as a full-time starter and complement to Hughes.

“It’s definitely been an adjustment playing a yard off the ball,” says Law, who attended training camp with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks before joining the Stampeders in late October of 2012.

“Now I think I got it. I’ve learned how to get off the line better and it’s been a fun year.”

Law and Hughes certainly have been getting off the line — and on the quarterbacks — in 2013. The defensive-end bookends have combined for 22 of Calgary’s league-best 45 quarterback sacks.

Currently, Hughes is tied for first in the league with a career best 13; his patrol partner in Law is holding down third spot with nine.

For Hughes, it is business as usual. He has led the team in sacks for five years now, garnering a reputation as a premier quarterback-hunter among his peers while sending offensive linemen into fits of frustration.

Hughes says there is no real secret to his success — just simply committing to work hard, being dedicated and having the will to prepare every season.

His hard work has paid off in plenty of attention as he has twice collected CFL weekly defensive honours and his own pre-game feature on TSN.

While Hughes humbly shakes off the spotlight and would rather share it with his teammates, Law is just fine playing second fiddle.

“That offensive line is always looking for Charleston on every play,” he grins as he heads off the field after a recent practice. “I think it’s good, because they’ve just been leaving me alone to take down those QBs.”

Law says the success he and his counterpart have been having is due to a good group of inside linemen doing unheralded work.

“I think it’s been a team effort within the d-Line,” he says. “A lot of our guys, the d-tackles, they do a lot of work on the inside. The stats don’t show it, but those guys they work hard. That leaves me and Charleston on the ends to get those sacks.”

The teamwork has been paying off, with Hughes closing in on possibly tying or breaking the 27-year-old team record for QB drops in a single season — 19, set by Harold Hallman in 1986.

Many of the sacks delivered by Hughes and Law have led to favourable field position when their offence takes over. But for these two masters of disaster, the personal stats don’t matter.

“It’s more about the team,” says Hughes. “It’s about winning games. I only have one ring — I need another one.”

This weekend in Guelph, the Stamps will take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and former Stamps QB Henry Burris.