By Stampeders.com staff

When Shawn Lemon sacked Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Kerry Joseph last week and forced the ball to come loose, he earned a place in the Calgary Stampeders record books.

The forced fumble was Lemon’s sixth of the season, allowing him to tie the franchise’s single-season record. It was a mark first established in 2006 by linebacker Brian Clark.

Clark’s tenure with the Stampeders — 2004-07 — coincided with a transition period for the team. Wally Buono had left in 2002 and the Stamps tried Jim Barker as head coach in 2003 and Matt Dunigan in 2004 before gaining some measure of stability with the hiring of Tom Higgins in 2005.

When Clark arrived in 2004, the quarterback position was in flux with Marcus Crandell, Tommy Jones, Mike Souza and Khari Jones all seeing action and combining for 31 interceptions compared to just 19 touchdowns. The starting running back at the start of the 2004 campaign was Victor Ike, who averaged a meagre 3.4 yards per carry.

Not surprisingly, those 2004 Stamps finished 4-14 and scored the fewest points in the CFL.

By the start of the 2005 season, Henry Burris was the QB and Joffrey Reynolds was the tailback, but in the meantime it was the play of Clark and his linebacker colleagues that gave Stamps fans something to cheer about.

Calgary used a 3-4 defence at that time, a deployment — three defensive linemen and four linebackers — that was common south of the border but relatively rare in the CFL.

That alignment places a lot of responsibility on the linebackers to make plays and the foursome of Clark, John Grace, George White and Scott Coe did just that for the Red and White in 2004.

White was a tackling machine, recording 87 stops on defence and 12 more on special teams.

Grace had a penchant for the big play as his 2004 numbers included a team-leading seven interceptions. one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions including a pair of pick-sixes.

Coe, the lone Canadian in the group, also boasted a very impressive statline with 71 tackles, two forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, four sacks and two interceptions.

Clark, however, was considered the linchpin of the linebacking corps. It was the Hofstra alum’s rock-solid presence and veteran savvy — he had played seven years in the league with Montreal and Winnipeg before signing with the Stamps — that helped the others to shine.

“I know when I was playing in Saskatchewan,” said Burris, “we didn’t worry about the other guys. It was always, ‘Make sure we’ve got a hand on Clark.’

“He was the quarterback of the defence. He made all the calls and makes sure guys were in the right place.”

White and Grace eventually left the club and the Stamps switched to a more traditional 4-3, with Clark occupying the all-important middle linebacker position.

“He’s the best linebacker in the league,” teammate Jeff Pilon said at the time. “He’s a first-class person and one of the most competitive guys I’ve ever had on a team.”

Heading into the 2007 campaign, Clark had to fight for his job, not because his play had slipped but because the Stamps had to consider using a Canadian at middle linebacker. That meant Coe had the inside track on Clark, a product of Toms River, N.J.

It was a strange twist for the duo as Clark and Coe had not only battled side by side for the previous three years, they had become the most unlikely of friends.

Unlikely because low-key family man Clark was in many ways the opposite of Coe, a free-spirited bachelor who had the gift of gab and a habit of dying his hair bright colours.

“We’re as close as two normal, heterosexual males can get,” Clark quipped at the time.

Both players vowed not to let the potentially sticky professional situation get in the way of their friendship and in the end there was a roster spot for both men, although ratio issues did force Clark into a reduced role.

A year later, a new regime had been installed in Calgary and the 34-year-old Clark had come to the end of the line, not only with the Stampeders but in professional football.

Over 11 seasons with the Alouettes, Blue Bombers and Stampeders, Clark recorded 467 tackles, 99 special-teams tackles, 23 sacks, 17 interceptions including four pick-sixes, 12 fumble recoveries and eight forced fumbles.

When Clark, who now calls Houston home, learned on Twitter that Lemon had tied his forced-fumbles record, he sent the Calgary defensive lineman a supportive message — “Congratulations and keep it going! #playoffs”

Even seven years after leaving Calgary, Clark remains a team player.