By Stampeders.com staff

On one of the end of the spectrum, there was Nik Lewis.

In his 11th year in the Canadian Football League, Lewis made his 800th career catch on Friday night against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and passed Brian Kelly for 11th place on the all-time receiving yardage list.

Then there’s Eric Rogers, who was making his first CFL start. An impressive debut it was, too, as the California Lutheran product made five catches for 72 yards and played an important role in the Stamps’ 40-27 comeback victory over the Green Riders.

“I knew I was going to have some learning moments and I had a few mental errors,” admitted Rogers, who until Friday had been parked on the Stamps’ practice roster since coming to Calgary on July 7. “That first quarter, I had some adjusting to do with the quick turnover from offence to defence and defence to offence (in three-down football). It’s really fast-paced, but other than that, I expected to go out there and make plays.”

The first two attempted connections between Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and Rogers went awry, but the third time was the charm as Rogers made his first CFL catch on Calgary’s second possession.

Rogers had a 12-yard catch on the Stamps’ critical touchdown drive in the final minute of the first half and in the third quarter he made a nifty 25-yarder despite being interfered with by Roughriders defensive back Rod Williams.

“Making a play like that definitely settles your nerves,” said Rogers, “and Bo having that trust in you to give you that opportunity to make a play up the line given time to throw that ball. All in all, it was a great effort by everybody.”

In the fourth quarter, Rogers had a catch on both of the Stamps’ offensive touchdowns including a 22-yarder on which he again shrugged off interference by Williams to make the grab.

Rogers’ play went a long way in making sure his CFL debut was a happy one.

“Coach Huff told us to start fast and finish faster,” he said, “so I feel like we did finish faster. Defence made plays, offence made plays. We did our best and kept fighting and came out on top.”