By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders host their division rivals, the BC Lions, with first place and home-field advantage in the West Division on the line.

Calgary, 11-3 and in first place, won a second straight game last week, a 38-11 decision over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Stamps will play all four remaining games against Western opponents as they look to lock down a home playoff game for the second straight season.

The Lions, 9-5 and in third place, had their three-game winning streak snapped by the Roughriders at home as the Leos lost 31-17.

Calgary and BC have played twice so far in 2013 and will face each other twice more in the final four weeks of the season. Calgary won the first game 44-32 at McMahon in Week 1, only to have the Lions hand them one of their three losses on the year, a 26-22 defeat at BC Place in Week 8.

The Stamps are 5-4 at home against the Lions under head coach John Hufnagel and are currently on a two-game winning streak.

Calgary is 6-1 at home this year (3-0 against Western teams at home) and 4-2 against the West overall while the Lions come into McMahon with records of 3-4 on the road and 4-2 against West teams.

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, Sirius Satellite Channel 157, XM Satellite Channel 160
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders 

Calgary is coming off one of its most statistically dominating games of the season, setting season highs in both total yards and rushing yards.

Calgary ended the game with an incredible 622 yards of total offence — the fifth-highest total in team history — and rushed for 261 yards, the Stamps’ seventh-best rushing total of all time.

The 361 passing yards was the second-highest total of the season and the team topped 34 minutes of possession for the 10th time this year. Calgary returned to high-scoring ways at home, putting up 38 points in the win after two games with less than 30 points. The Stamps have now scored over 37 points in five of seven home contests.

One of those games was the Week 1 win over BC in which Calgary scored a season-best 44 points, had 467 yards of offence and rushed for 200 yards, one of three times this season in the Stamps have topped 200 yards rushing.

Calgary allowed the Bombers only 11 points and 297 yards of offence, including a season-low 147 yards passing. It was the third time this season Calgary has allowed less than 200 yards passing.

Of note, however, is the 150 rushing yards allowed by the Stamps’ defence as this is the fourth time in the past five games Calgary has allowed more than 100 yards.

The Stampeders also gave up their second kickoff-return touchdown of the year last week and have yet to score a return major. 

Who to watch:          

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2013 stats – 200 carries, 1,415 yards rushing, 7.1-yard average, 10 rushing TDs – leads CFL rushing, yards from scrimmage and touchdowns
Last Week – 17 carries, 208 yards, 12.2 yard average, 2 TDs vs Winnipeg – career-high in rushing yards; named CFL offensive and Canadian Player of the Week
2013 vs BC – 39 carries, 245 yards, 6.3 yard average, 3 TDs in two games

Marquay McDaniel, SB, #16
2013 stats – 60 receptions, 795 receiving yards, 13.3 yard average, 6 TDs – leads team in receiving, 10th in CFL
Last week – 5 receptions, 123 receiving yards, 24.6 yard average, 1 TD – led team in receiving yards
2013 vs BC – 9 receptions, 93 receiving yards, 10.3 yard average, 1 TD in two games

Joe West, WR, #85
2013 stats – 19 receptions, 277 receiving yards, 14.6-yard average, 3 TDs in five games
Last Week – 8 receptions, 120 yards, 15.0-yard average – returned from injury, led team in receptions, set career high in receptions
2013 vs BC – 5 receptions, 51 yards, 10.2 yard average, 2 TDs in Week 1

Cordarro Law, DE, #49
2013 stats – 36 tackles, 5 special teams tackles, 3 tackles for losses, 11 sacks, 1 pass knockdown, 1 forced fumbles  – second on team in sacks, third in CFL
Last Week – 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass knockdown vs Winnipeg
2013 vs BC – 4 tackles, 3 sacks in Week 1

Derrius Brooks, HB, #32
2013 stats – 22 tackles, 2 INTs, 5 pass knockdown
Last Week  – 5 tackles, 1 INT, 2 pass knockdowns vs Winnipeg – led team in tackles
2013 vs BC – 5 tackles, 1 INT, 2 pass knockdowns in two games           

The Lions                                                                   

The Lions have nine wins on the season and are in the playoffs for the 17th straight season.

While not firing on all cylinders throughout the season, the Lions offence still possesses plenty of weapons and will provide a stiff test for Calgary’s defence. BC has had trouble of late rushing the football, averaging less than 100 yards per game on the ground after leading the CFL in 2012 with 124.9 yards per game. The Lions have only rushed for over 100 yards in a game twice in the past nine games and RB Andrew Harris (#33) is third in the CFL rushing derby with 760 yards.

QB Thomas DeMarco will get his fourth straight start replacing injured QB Travis Lulay and has a deep receiving corps including SB Shawn Gore (#85), WR Manny Arceneaux (#84) and WR Courtney Taylor (#86).

The Lions defence is stingy in terms of giving up yards and is second in takeaways thanks to a veteran-laden unit led by their two all-star linebackers Adam Bighill (#44) and Solomon Elimimian (#56). Khreem Smith (#94) leads the D-line with six sacks while rookie CB Cord Parks (#26) leads the team in picks with four and is third on the team in tackles with 53. 

Who to watch:

Thomas DeMarco, QB, #16
2013 stats – 101 attempts, 58 completions, 57.4% completion rate, 721 passing yards, 5 TDs, 3 INTs, 83.8 QB rating in three starts (2-1 record)
Last Game – 36 attempts, 19 completions, 52.8% completion rate, 286 passing yards, 1 TDs, 3 INTs, 53.7 QB rating vs Saskatchewan
2013 vs Cgy. – did not throw a pass in either of the two games

Nick Moore, SB, #17
2013 stats –  58 receptions, 875 receiving yards, 14.8 yard average, 4 TDs- leads team in receiving, 5th in CFL
Last Game –  5 receptions, 92 receiving yards, 18.4 yard average, 0 TDs – led team in receiving
2013 vs Cgy. – 8 receptions, 86 receiving yards, 10.7-yard average in two games

Adam Bighill, MLB, #44
2013 stats – 72 tackles, 9 special teams tackles, 4 tackles for losses, 6 sacks, 1 INT, 3 pass knockdowns, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble returns, 1 TD – leads team in tackles and sacks, 4th in CFL in tackles
Last Game  – 5 tackles, 1 sack vs Saskatchewan
2013 vs Cgy. – 14 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 fumble return in two games

Stats

Here are the two teams’ offensive and defensive totals and league rankings after last week’s games

The CFL this Week

Saturday, Oct. 12, 2:30 p.m. – Edmonton (3-11) at Saskatchewan (9-5)
Monday, Oct. 14, 11:30 a.m. – Winnipeg (2-12) at Montreal (6-8)
Monday, Oct. 14, 2:30 p.m. – Hamilton (7-7) at Toronto (9-5)