THIS WEEK IN THE CFL – WEEK 13

Week 13 takes us to BC where the Lions host the Ottawa REDBLACKS for Friday Night Football beginning at 10 p.m. ET. With divisional races tight, BC is two games back from Winnipeg while Ottawa tops the East Division with Hamilton only a game behind them. BC Place has been kind for the Lions, who have gone 3-1 at home. Since joining the league Ottawa has the edge in the series, 5-4.

Saturday features the first triple-header of the season. First Hamilton visits BMO Field to take on the Toronto Argonauts. The Tiger-Cats enter the game on a two-game winning streak and look to sweep the home-and-home series with Toronto. Toronto’s three wins have all come at home this season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

The second game features the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 4 p.m. ET. The game many have named the ‘Banjo Bowl’ will take place at Investors Group Field. The historical record for the game after Labour Day has been in Winnipeg’s favour, as they have won the last three games. Saskatchewan will try to sweep the home-and-home series for the first time since 2014.

The third and final game of the week takes us to Edmonton where the Battle of Alberta will take place for the final time this season. The Stampeders took the first game on Labour Day with a last-second field goal and padded their lead in the West Division standings. Edmonton now sits in third place in the West Division and will be looking to leap the second place Saskatchewan Roughriders.

*BC Lions vs. Ottawa REDBLACKS will be the live mic game this week*

OTTAWA REDBLACKS AT BC LIONS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 – 10 P.M. ET

• Lions are 4-10 in games decided by four points or fewer since 201
• From 2013-2015 they were 9-6 in games decided by four points or fewer.
• Manny Arceneaux: This will be his first extended absence from BC’s lineup. He has played 77 of their past 79 games and his contribution is easy to see. In those 79 games he has 39% of BC’s TD receptions (45 out of 116) and accounted for 22% of their completed passes.
• The REDBLACKS are 5-1 when Trevor Harris throws a TD pass this year and 1-3 when he doesn’t.
• Greg Ellingson is looking to extend his streak of 100+ yard games in a row to four. Gerald Alphin has the team record with five in a row in 1989.
• Former BC Lion Richie Leone returns to BC Place. He has a streak of five games in a row with a punt inside the 10-yard line.
• BC’s punter Ty Long is currently averaging 50.6 yards per punt. That ties the season record owned by Jon Ryan, set during the 2005 season with Winnipeg.
• Long has also not missed a field goal at BC Place this season (12/12).

REDEMPTION GAMES

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS AT TORONTO ARGONAUTS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 – 1 P.M. ET

• This will be the 9^th occasion that Hamilton and Toronto have engaged in a back-to-back set since 1992.
• In those games Toronto has swept the series three times, Hamilton has swept the series once and there have been four splits.
• The last time the two teams had a Labour Day home-and-home series was in 2016.
• Jeremiah Masoli improved to 2-0 in Labour Day games following his performance of 385 passing yards and three TDs. This season he has passed for 300+ yards on eight occasions and 350+ yards four times.Masoli has started once in Toronto and won that game (June 23/2016).
• Aldon Darby returned a fumble 100 yards for a touchdown last week in Hamilton. It was the 7^th fumble return of 100+ yards in CFL history. Darby also has a two-game defensive touchdown streak entering Saturday’s game.
• Hamilton is 1-2 at BMO Field, losing the last two meetings.
• Overall between Toronto and Hamilton teams from 1907, this will be the 313^th game played. The City of Hamilton over City of Toronto 167-137-9

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 – 4 P.M. ET

• This will be the 15^th installment of the Banjo Bowl between Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.
• Winnipeg owns the edge in the Banjo Bowl, going 8-6 including winning the last three and four of the last five.
• Matt Nichols is 3-0 in the Banjo Bowl in his career, averaging 271 passing yards in those games.
• A quarterback has passed for 300+ yards just once in the last six of these games. That was done by Drew Willy in 2014 for Winnipeg.
• Saskatchewan’s Naaman Roosevelt has notched 10 catches for 223 and two TDs in the last two Banjo Bowls. For Winnipeg, Weston Dressler has recorded 10 receptions for 192 yards in the last two Banjo Bowls.
• This will be the fourth different QB in the last four years for the Roughriders: 2015 Brett Smith, 2016 Darian Durant, 2017 Kevin Glenn and 2018 Zach Collaros.
• Saskatchewan took care of business in the front end of the home-and-home set. The Riders will be attempting to record their seventh sweep. Winnipeg has swept the pivotal Labour Day/Banjo Bowl series twice and there have been six splits.
• This will be the sixth time Investors Group Field has hosted the game; the Blue Bombers have gone 4-1 in Banjo Bowls since the building opened.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS AT EDMONTON ESKIMOS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 – 7 P.M. ET

• This marks the 59^th time that Edmonton and Calgary have engaged in back-to-back sets since 1949.
• This also marks the 30^th consecutive back-to-back set following Mark’s Labour Day Weekend.
• Calgary has been dominant as of late in the home-and-home series. They have swept the two-game sets five of the last six years and eight of the last 11.
• Bo Levi Mitchell and Mike Reilly will face off in the game following Mark’s Labour Day for the fourth time. Mitchell owns the edge 3-1.
• In the last three meetings following the Labour Day game Mitchell has averaged 285 passing yards and Reilly has averaged 422 passing yards.
• In the last two rematch games following Labour Day Derel Walker has amassed 257 receiving yards on 15 receptions.
• Last week’s game was Alex Singleton’s first double-digit tackle game of the season when he recorded 11 – the 6^th such game in his career. Edmonton’s Nick Taylor recorded the first double-digit tackle game of his career.
• Last week Mitchell earned his 15^th career fourth  quarter game-winning drive. Mitchell has secured fourth quarter game-winning drives in both of the past two post-Labour Day games in Edmonton.

QUICK SLANTS

• REDBLACKS receiver and Peterborough, ON native Brad Sinopoli leads the league with 68 receptions. He’s on pace for 122 receptions this season.
• Chris Rainey leads the league in combined yards with 1,525. He has a 122-yard cushion over Christion Jones from Saskatchewan. 
• Duke of 1K: Duke Williams was the first player to crack 1,000 receiving yards on the season. Not only does Williams lead the league in receiving yards (1,063), he also leads the league with targets (101), average per catch (18.6 yards) and is tied for first in receiving touchdowns (8).
• 61% of games this year have been decided in the final three minutes.
• Jeremiah Masoli leads the league with eight 300+ yard games this season. Tied for second are reigning MOP Mike Reilly and Trevor Harris with six each.
• Reilly continues to be on pace for 50+ touchdowns this season. He has passed for 23 and added eight rushing touchdowns.
• Andrew Harris is 37 rushing yards away from recording his fourth 1,000-yard season. Harris’ current pace has him rushing for 1,576 yards, which would be 464 yards better than his career high, set in 2012 (1,112). Harris’ 6.2 yards per carry is also a career high.
• Lewis Ward continues his incredible start to his career. In his rookie season, the Kingston, ON native has made 96.8% (30-for-31) of his field goal attempts this season. Inside 40 yards he’s a perfect 21-for-21.
• Kickers this year collectively have made 86.8% of field goals and 94% of converts.
• 50+ Yard Field Goals: Five kickers have made 2+ 50-yard kicks this season (Brett Lauther, Rene Paredes, Sean Whyte, Lirim Hajrullahi and Justin Medlock).
• The last time Montreal has won two games in a row was at the end of the 2016 season when they won three games in a row from Oct. 22 to Nov. 5.
• Charleston Hughes leads the league with 13 sacks. He has recorded a sack in every game except Saskatchewan’s second game against Ottawa and has three games with multiple sacks. His pace of 23 sacks would tie Gregg Stumon (23.0) for fifth-most in a season. He also has an eight-game sack streak, two off from tying the best streak in the past 25 years (Joe Montford in 1998 and Phillip Hunt in 2010, both 10 games).
• Tackles: Three of the top four players in tackles are Nationals: Henoc Muamba (68), Adam Bighill (66), Alex Singleton (66) and Chris Ackie (64).