By Max Campbell
Stampeders.com

After making seven starts in 2014, Junior Turner is ready to become a disruptive force at the defensive tackle position on a regular basis.

At six-foot-three and 281 lbs., the run-stuffer chalked up 33 tackles in addition to three sacks a season ago for career highs in both statistical categories.

The fifth-year Stampeder has been in the starting lineup for both games thus far in 2015, registering three tackles. Pleased with the increased playing time he’s received since recovering from a hand injury in advance of the regular season, Turner points to his determined mentality as a key factor in his increased role.

“I always treat it like I’m always the starter,” vowed Turner. “If you try to take a step back and say ‘I’m not a starter, I’m a backup’, it can differentiate your preparation. So I always prepare the same week-in and week-out and don’t try to change anything.”

With 10 days between Calgary’s Week 2 loss in Montreal and the team’s Week 3 matchup with the Argonauts on home turf, the 2011 first-round pick is doing what he can to make the most of the extended work week.

“You can always take advantage of extra time to fine-tune things and maybe put a little stuff in and take some stuff out,” the Bishop’s alum explained. “You get to see what works and what doesn’t work and you get to prepare for your opponent better. You can see their tendencies and try to get a better beat on them.”

Turner will be facing the league’s most efficient passer through two games in Trevor Harris and the CFL’s average yards-per-rush leader in tailback Brandon Whitaker on Monday at McMahon. But perhaps most importantly, the 26-year-old will be up against an Argos offensive unit that has scored a combined total of 68 points in wins over the Eskimos and Roughriders away from home.

Yet seemingly undaunted by the task at hand, the Toronto native is ready face his hometown team and ensure the Red and White – who currently own a 1-1 record – do not fall below the .500 mark for the first time since the early stages of the 2012 campaign.

“All we’ve got to do is just go out there and do our job and do what’s expected of us and don’t try to do anything out of the ordinary,” No. 7 adamantly articulated. “(We need to) just respond better than last week and I think we’ll be OK.”