By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Stampeders finish off the 2013 regular season with a road trip to Vancouver to play the BC Lions.

It will be the fourth meeting of the year between the Western rivals, with Calgary winning both games at home and the Lions taking the game played at BC Place in Week 8 by a 26-22 score.

The Stamps (14-3) clinched first place and the right to host the West Final with a 29-25 win over second-place Saskatchewan and also extended their winning streak to a season-best five games. Calgary has now won 14 games in a CFL season for the fourth time in club history and can tie the team record for most wins in a season (15, set three times from 1993-95).

The Lions (9-7), who will finish the season in third place in the West, snapped a three-game losing streak last week with a win over the Eskimos — 43-29 — and ran their home record to 7-1 in the process.

Calgary has lost three straight regular-season games at BC Place, all by less than a touchdown. The Stampeders have a 6-2 road record this year, the fourth time in the past six seasons that they have won at least six road games. A win this week would give them seven road victories for the first time since 1995.

Calgary is 7-2 against the West while the Leos are 5-4 against Western teams.

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. MDT at BC Place in Vancouver
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, Sirius Satellite Channel 157, XM Satellite Channel 160
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders 

The Stamps offence checked nearly all the boxes on the list of what was needed to win last week — more than 100 yards rushing as a team (125), more than 300 yards passing (301), more than 20 first downs (26) and more than 30 minutes of offensive possession (33:36).

The only blemishes on the night were the five turnovers (a season high) and eight penalties, the ninth time this season Calgary has had eight or more penalties in a game.

Calgary has scored 542 points on the season, the third-highest total of coach John Hufnagel’s tenure and a sixth straight season of scoring at least 500 points. Calgary had its second-lowest point total of the season and its lowest total offence number in the Week 8 road loss to the Lions.

Calgary’s defence shut down the Riders, limiting them to 25 points and just 212 yards of total offence (a season best) including only 54 yards along the ground. It was the seventh time this season Calgary has held an opponent to less than 300 yards of offence.

SB Marquay McDaniel topped the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career in the win and DE Cordarro Law had two of the team’s seven sacks to bring his season total to 14, third best in the CFL. 

Who to watch:          

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2013 stats – 254 carries, 1,799 yards rushing, 7.1 yard average, 12 rushing TDs – leads CFL rushing, yards from scrimmage and touchdowns (14); needs 97 yards to set new club record for rushing yards in a single season
Last Week – 20 carries, 109 yards, 5.5 yard average, 1 TD versus Saskatchewan – 9th game of over 100 yards rushing, 5th straight, ties club record; named CFL Canadian Player of the Week
2013 vs BC – 54 carries,  375 yards, 6.9 yard average, 4 rushing TDs in three games; held to 73 yards in Week 8 loss in BC

Brett Jones, C, #69
2013 – only member of O-line to start all 17 games of the season; Calgary’s O-line leads CFL in yards rushing and fewest sacks allowed

Jeff Fuller, WR, #31
2013 stats – 10 receptions, 188 receiving yards, 18.8 yard average, 0 TDs – two games played
Last Week – 6 receptions, 113  receiving yards, 18.8 yard average, vs Saskatchewan – led team in receiving

Charleston Hughes, DE , #39
2013 stats – 38 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, 1 INT, 3 pass knockdowns, 3 forced fumbles  – leads CFL in sacks; needs two sacks to set new club record
Last Week – 5 tackles, 3 sacks versus Saskatchewan –  season high in tackles, tied season high in sacks, named CFL defensive player of the week
2013 vs BC – 6 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 3 pass knockdowns in three games

Rene Paredes, K, #30
2013 stats – 207 points scored, 49 of 50 coverts made, 52 of 55 field goals made (94.5%), 78 kickoffs, 63.7 yard kickoff average – needs 14 points, 5 field goals to set new club records
Last Week  – 11 points scored, 3 for 3 in field goal attempts versus Saskatchewan
2013 vs BC – 35 points scored, 8 for 8 in field goal attempts in three games

The Lions                                                              

The Lions will finish third in the West for the first time since 2010 after back-to-back seasons in first place.

BC finished the season with a 3-6 road record and lost three out of four game played in Calgary and Regina.

The Lions have played the past six games without starting QB Travis Lulay and turned to rookie Thomas DeMarco (#16) in his place. The Lions went 3-3 in those games but had to replace DeMarco with veteran Buck Pierce (#11) to get the win last week.

Another newcomer to the offence is RB Stefan Logan (#10) who will team with RB Andrew Harris (#33) to give the Lions a dual threat in the backfield. SB Nick Moore (#17) cracked the 1,000-yard mark receiving and WR Manny Arceneaux (#84) has a chance to join him this week as he needs 116 yards for the milestone.

BC’s defence boasts many veteran players including LB Adam Bighill (#44), a leading candidate for the league’s top defensive player, as well as LB Solomon Elimimian (#56), DE Khreem Smith (#94) and CB Dante Marsh (#31). 

Who to watch:

Buck Pierce, QB, #11
2013 stats – 155 attempts, 95 completions, 61.3% completion rate, 1,135 passing yards, 5 TDs, 6 INTs, 78.3 QB rating
Last Game – 14 attempts, 11 completions, 78.5% completion rate, 141 passing yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, 181.0 QB rating versus Edmonton – came on in relief of Thomas DeMarco

Stefan Logan, RB, #10
2013 stats –  21 carries, 172 rushing yards, 8.2 yard average,  1 TD –  two games played; rushed for 889 yards as a rookie in 2008
Last Game –  10 carries, 121 rushing yards, 12.1 yard average, 1 TD versus Edmonton

Cord Parks, DB, #26
2013 stats – 63 tackles, 7 special teams tackles, 3 tackles for losses, 6 INTs, 2 TDs, 8 pass knockdowns, 3 fumble returns
Last Game  – 5 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 1 INT vs Edmonton
2013 vs Cgy – 15 tackles, 2 special teams, tackles, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble in three games

Stats

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

The CFL this Week

Friday, Nov. 1, 5 p.m. – Montreal (7-10) at Toronto (11-6)
Saturday, Nov. 2, noon – Hamilton (9-8) at Winnipeg (3-14)
Saturday, Nov. 2,  1 p.m. – Edmonton (3-14) at Saskatchewan (11-6)