By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

Calgary and Edmonton meet for the third and final time in the regular season, this time in the annual Labour Day Rematch.

The teams traditionally play in Calgary on Labour Day and then move up to Edmonton for the rematch later the same week. The Rematch is usually played on the Friday following Labour Day Monday but has been moved to Saturday this year.

Calgary (8-1) took sole possession of first place in the West by beating the Eskimos 28-13 on Labour Day.

The win was the third straight on Labour Day for Calgary over Edmonton and is part of a larger dominant run currently enjoyed by the Stamps over their provincial rivals. Calgary also beat Edmonton 26-22 back in Week 5 and the results give Calgary 10 straight regular-season wins over the Esks dating back to 2011.

The winning streak for Calgary in Edmonton is just as impressive, with Calgary having won eight straight games dating back to 2009 and also having won seven consecutive Rematch games dating back to 2006.

Calgary is the league’s only remaining undefeated team on the road at 4-0 and is 2-1 against West teams while the Eskimos are 3-1 at Commonwealth Stadium and 2-2 against the West.

The Kickoff

When/Where: Saturday, Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. MDT at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

Stampeders fans got what they came to see on Labour Day, which was of course a Calgary win over its archrival.

They also came away knowing their all-star running back was back to his MOP form. RB Jon Cornish, in his second game back from injury, rushed for a season-high 163 yards on 17 carries, the best single-game rushing total of the season in the CFL. Cornish was awarded the league’s top offensive and top Canadian weekly awards for his performance, the third and fourth weekly awards for the Stamps this season.

It was also the fifth time in the past eight games against Edmonton Cornish has topped 100 yards and the Calgary running back has 1,004 rushing yards total over those past eight games, an average of 125.5 yards per game.

Calgary had its best day rushing the football this season, topping the 200-yard mark as a team for the first time and pounding an Eskimos defence that had allowed an average of only 82.4 yards per game coming into the week. 

QB Bo Levi Mitchell spread the ball around effectively on Labour Day, hitting nine different receivers in the game, led by WR Maurice Price and SB Marquay McDaniel, who each caught four passes for 53 yards. Veteran SB Nik Lewis also contributed four catches and totalled his best receiving yardage mark of the season, 42 yards.

DB Josh Bell and DB Jamar Wall led the team on defence with five tackles each as Calgary’s defence held the No. 2 team in the league in scoring to no offensive touchdowns. Calgary held the Eskimos to less than 100 yards rushing and less than 300 yards offence.

The Stamps have won the turnover and sack battles against Edmonton this season, collecting six sacks to Edmonton’s two and only turning the ball over twice compared to the Esks’ six turnovers in two games. 

Who to watch:

Maurice Price, WR #17
2014 stats –  5 receptions, 155 receiving yards, 31.0 yard average, 1 TD –  two games
Last game – 4 receptions, 53 receiving yards, 13. 3 yard average, 0 TDs   – Week 10 vs Edm.
2013 Labour Day Rematch– 4 receptions, 53 receiving yards, 13.3-yard average

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2014 stats – 47 carries, 304 yards rushing, 6.5-yard average, 2 rushing TDs – leads team in rushing
Last game – 17 carries, 163 yards, 9.4 yard average, 1 TD – CFL Offensive and Canadian Player of the Week –  Week 10 vs Edm.
2013 Labour Day Rematch  – 14 carries, 131 yards rushing, 9.4-yard average6 receptions, 46 yards, 7.6-yard average, 1 TD – led team in rushing and receiving

Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, #19
2014 stats – 265 attempts, 166 completions, 62.6% completion rate, 2,210 passing yards, 13 TDs, 4 INT,  99.1 QB rating – leads CFL in QB rating
Last game – 29 attempts, 18 completions, 62.1% completion rate, 252 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INT,   105.1 QB rating – Week 10 vs Edm.
2013 Labour Day Rematch – 26 attempts, 19 completions, 73.1% completion rate, 175 passing yards, 1 TDs, 1 INTs, 87.8 QB rating – one of three starts in 2013

Charleston Hughes, DE, #39
2014 stats – 24 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 1 tackle for loss, 8 sacks, 2 pass knockdowns, 3 forced fumbles – leads team in sacks,  tied for second in CFL
Last game – 3 tackles, 1 sack  – Week 10 vs Edm.
2013 Labour Day Rematch – 2 tackles, 2 sacks

Deron Mayo, LB, #42
2014 stats – 26 tackles, 1 sack, 3 pass knockdowns, 1 fumble return
Last game – 4 tackles, 1 sack – Week 10 vs Edm.
2013 Labour Day Rematch – 6 tackles, 1 sack

The Eskimos                                         

Edmonton sits tied with the Riders at 7-2, with both losses coming at the hands of the Stampeders.

QB Matt Nichols (#16) filled in for the ailing Mike Reilly last week and passed for his season-best total of 203 yards and rated out at 80.3. Edmonton ran the ball by committee, rushing for 96 yards as a team with five different players carrying the ball, led by Kendial Lawrence (#32). Edmonton rushed for 98 yards in the Week 5 loss in Edmonton and, in that game, Lawrence had only 24 yards as the backup to John White.

SB Adarius Bowman (#4) had the lion’s share of the pass receptions on Monday, catching eight balls compared to 10 catches for the rest of the Eskimos combined.

Edmonton’s defence was roughed up for season highs in rushing (205 yards), total yards (457), first downs (28) and time of possession (35:31) so the unit will be looking for redemption.

The Eskimos D-line featuring DE Odell Willis (#41) and Almondo Sewell (#90) had only one sack on Calgary for the second time this season despite ranking second in the CFL in sacks. LB JC Sherritt (#47) had three tackles while LB Dexter McCoil (#45) led the team in stops with five. 

Who to watch:

Adarius Bowman, SB, #4
2014 stats –  57 receptions, 742 receiving yards, 13.0-yard average, 5 receiving TDs – leads CFL in receiving
Last game – 8 receptions, 123 yards, 15.3-yard average, 0 TD – Week 10 vs Cgy.; led team in receiving
2013 Labour Day Rematch –  5 receptions, 48 receiving yards, 9.6-yard average

Kendial Lawrence, RB, #32
2014 stats – 39 carries, 291 rushing yards, 7.5-yard average, 1 TD – third on team in rushing
Last game  – 11 carries, 65 rushing yards, 5.9-yard average – Week 10 vs Cgy.;  led team in rushing
2013 Labour Day Rematch – did not play

Rennie Curran, LB, #35
2014 stats – 34 tackles, 1 special teams tackles, 2 tackles for losses, 2 pass knockdowns – leads team in tackles
Last game  – 3 tackles – Week 10 vs Cgy.
2013 Labour Day Rematch – 9 tackles – led team in tackles

Stats

The CFL this Week

Friday, Sept. 5,  5:30 p.m. – BC (5-4) at Ottawa (1-8)
Sunday, Sept. 7,  11 a.m. – Hamilton (2-6) at Montreal (2-7)
Sunday, Sept. 7,  2 p.m. – Saskatchewan (7-2) at Winnipeg (6-4)
Bye: Toronto