Stampeders.com Staff

Offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Dave Dickenson told Drew Tate he’d be the starting quarterback this week before practice on Monday.

“I guess I was a little bit expecting it,” Tate told Newstalk 770 earlier this week. “Last year was the same thing. Last game, we go to BC and I start that game because the playoffs were already set and I think it’s the same way this year, too. So lucky me — I get to go in there and have some fun with the boys.”

Head coach John Hufnagel says he’d like to see all three quarterbacks get playing time in the game but did confirm that Tate will start.

The Stamps make their first appearance at BC Place on Saturday since winning the Grey Cup there last November. Although this weekend’s game won’t have any effect on the standings, the team says it’s still an important game especially given the fact that the same two teams will meet eight days later at McMahon for the Western Semi-Final.

“It’s meaningful,” says quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell about the regular-season finale. “We get to go out there against a team and run an exhibition game against them, find out how guys are, what they’re kind of thinking.

“It’s little bit of a chess match because you don’t want to show anything, you don’t want to give away too much, but at the same time it’s still football, so you’ve just got to go out there and win a game and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Fans may remember two years ago when Calgary found themselves in an identical situation. The standings were already set and the team wrapped up the regular season with a game in BC. The team won the game but they lost several key players to injuries. Both starting defensive tackles Micah Johnson and Demonte’ Bolden went down with knee injuries while receiver Marquay McDaniel suffered an ankle injury. None of them were available to play in the Western Final two weeks later.

“I mean, that’s how it is sometimes,” said Mitchell, who was just named the Stamps’ nominee for most outstanding player. “They still tried to protect guys that year but they took some dirty shots at us and that’s going to happen.

“But last year was the same exact situation. We had it locked up, we came out, I think me and Drew both played, played sharp the whole time, and we developed some confidence out of that game going into the playoffs.”

Coach Hufnagel agrees that the team can’t worry about injuries and says everyone who goes on the trip to BC will play.

“The approach is we’ll take 44 guys and try to win a football game,” says Hufnagel, who will be coaching his final regular-season game. “We can’t be concerned about injuries. We’ll try to do what we can to be flexible with the roster but there’s only so much you can do.”

The Stamps are expected to rest some of their starters and let some other players get some game reps.

Up to this point, Tate himself has seen limited playing time. He’s been taking the bulk of the reps at practice this week and is busy learning the game plan.

“If we each focus on doing our job individually then collectively, we’re going to be just fine,” said Tate. “It’s not that we’re trying to go make a statement or we’re trying to do this or do that. We’re just trying to do our jobs and play the best football that we can possibly play at each position and hopefully come away with a win.”