By Nic Sgaggi
Stampeders.com

Stampeders defensive back Josh Bell is having a little fun with his old pals ahead of Friday’s game with his previous employers, the BC Lions.

“I’ve been having a little Twitter battle with Manny (Emmanuel Areceneaux) and texting my boy Cord Parks who was my roommate,” said the first-year Stamp. “Whenever I play an old team, it’s all love with my (old) teammates.”

However, he isn’t joking about putting up as many points as possible in Friday’s West-Division tilt.

“I run my mouth a lot, so I want to win,” Bell said. “I want to win so they can’t say nothing to me.”

Stamps DB Lin-J Shell, who also joined the Red and White after spending the 2013 season in BC, spoke more passively about squaring off against his old team.

“Honestly, there is no love lost between myself and my ex-teammates, but I play for the Stamps and I really want to give them 110 per cent (on Friday) just to put a nice little shine on the game,” Shell said. “We’ve had a little bit of trash talk, but nothing major.”

Shell and Bell both followed the path of their defensive boss from their time with the Lions – Rich Stubler – who became the Stamps’ defensive coordinator prior to the 2014 season.

Stamps DBs Josh Bell and Lin-J Shell team up to knock the ball out of Eskimo RB John White’s hands on July 24, 2014.

Shell spoke about quickly settling into the Red and White’s defence as a result of his existing relationship with Stubler.

“The thing is, coach Stubler’s defence has been imitated across the league,” Shell explained. “Since I started in the league, I’ve played in, technically, his defence.

“To be coming over here and playing under the guy who actually created the defence, it makes it completely different because he can tell you the principles as to why he does things. Playing for him the last two years is making it really easy and knowing why he does things makes it 10 times better.”

While Friday marks the first time Bell and Shell face their old teammates as members of the Stampeders in regular-season action, they got a taste of life against the Lions in a 37-13 loss at BC Place in a pre-season contest back in June.

Shell talked about how the defence has evolved since then.

“In the pre-season, there are a lot of players who are learning,” Shell said. “There’s a difference between playing a defence that you’re learning and playing a defence that you know. We’ve learned the defence since then.”

He explained that while getting a win against his old team would be satisfying on a personal level, getting the team win against a West Division opponent is what it’s really all about.

“We’re in a race and there’s a lot of great teams out here right now,” Shell said. “Especially in the West, which has been really dominant. To be able to be the best in the West would be more satisfying than beating the BC Lions.

“But to be able to get great hits on a couple of my old teammates,” he added with a smile, “I’m definitely looking forward to that.”