By Geoff Crane
Stampeders.com

Saturday will be a milestone occasion for Tim St. Pierre.

The fullback and long-snapper will play his 100th career regular-season game this weekend as the Red and White square off against the BC Lions at McMahon Stadium in what promises to be an exciting West Division matchup.

Caught off guard by the milestone, St. Pierre was reflective about his journey through his football career to this point.

“I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in my career,” says St. Pierre. “But I think that is how you get to this point, by learning from those ups and downs, learning how to recover from injuries, play hard and just doing what you’re asked.”

The Saint Mary’s product has been asked to do many things during his seven-year CFL career including changing roles on the field, even switching from the defensive side of the ball to the offensive midway through.

Coming out of college, the sturdy fullback was a first-team all-Canadian linebacker. After being drafted by the Edmonton Eskimos 19th overall in 2008, St. Pierre saw playing time on defence and special teams.

In 2010, he was Edmonton’s nominee for the Most Outstanding Special Teams Player award, recording 13 tackles and handling the team’s long-snapping duties.

In 2011, St. Pierre was acquired by the Eskimos southern provincial rivals as a free agent. His first game suiting up for the Stamps has gone down as one of the most memorable times of his career.

“I have definitely had a lot of exciting games and matches,” says St. Pierre, who scored his first CFL touchdown last year on a one-yard toss from Bo Levi Mitchell. “Coming to the Stamps was a big decision for me. I played against them for three years up in Edmonton, so I knew the culture here from playing against them.

“When I got the call and we were able to make the deal and I came here as a free agent, I’d never been as excited as I was that first whole year.”

Making the decision to sign in Calgary also meant making a career-altering decision in taking on a new position.

Having spent his first three seasons at linebacker, the Stampeders asked St. Pierre to switch to playing fullback on the offensive side of the ball. It’s a decision he was glad he made.

“I thought, if that’s where they want me to be, it would be a good opportunity,” says the man known to his teammates as T.S.P. “Fullback is a Canadian position so I thought it would be a good opportunity to lengthen the career and I’ve actually enjoyed it — I think I’ve enjoyed it more than my linebacker days.”

Looking ahead at what is to come in his next 100 games, St. Pierre is focused on one goal — getting a Grey Cup in 2014.

“Getting that Grey Cup, that’s the only thing the guys in the room care about,” he says. “We’ve had a couple of good years in a row where we’ve been up there in the conversation but we haven’t been able to pull the trigger. So, that’s all anybody cares about right now. Let’s get one of those and we can worry about the rest later.”

>> Photos: St. Pierre’s first 100 games