WEEK 9 IN THE CFL

Stats and storylines heading into this week’s action

CATCHING FIRE

Last week, Kiondré Smith collected a league-wide season-high of 14 receptions, besting his previous mark of nine, set in 2023 and matched in 2024.
Smith’s feat was the 21^st game in which a player has made at least 14 catches.
He is part of a 10-way tie for 12^th all-time. Seven players are tied for fifth with 15, while four are tied for the all-time record at 16:
- Terry Greer | TOR | 1983
- Brian Wiggins | CGY | 1993
- Derrell Mitchell | TOR | 1998
- Arland Bruce III | HAM | 2010
Two players have reached 14+ twice: Darren Flutie (14 in 1994 and 15 in 1997) and Derrell Mitchell (16 in 1998 and 14 in 2000).
Among Canadians, Smith from Markham, Ont., sits tied for second with Justin McInnis (2024). Andy Fantuz holds the record at 15, set in 2016.

QUICK SLANTS

LEAGUE-WIDE

Last week, East Division teams went 3-0 against the West, evening the inter-division record at 5-5.

CGY (5-2) at OTT (1-6)

Week 3: OTT 20 – CGY 12
With his next win, Dave Dickenson will become the 13^th head coach to reach 90 CFL victories.
P.J. Walker will make his first career CFL start. He has three completions for 20 passing yards and 19 rushing yards on the season.
Dedrick Mills is averaging 77.7 rushing yards per game, with three 90+ efforts, but he has yet to reach the century mark this season. He has seven rushing TDs this season; Calgary’s franchise mark is 14, set by Tony Stewart in 1994.
The REDBLACKS have won the teams’ last four matchups.
Dru Brown owns a 3-0 record against the Stampeders.
Justin Hardy (3,129) needs 80 yards to pass Margene Adkins (3,208) for 10^th all-time on Ottawa’s receiving list.
Bralon Addison needs 62 receiving yards to reach 3,000 in his career.

TOR (2-5) at WPG (3-3)

Week 8: WPG 17 – TOR 31
Toronto has won the teams’ past three regular season matchups.
Nick Arbuckle recorded his third 300+ yard game of the season, matching his 2019 personal best. He has thrown multiple TDs in three straight games.
Last week, Damonte Coxie posted a career-high 145 receiving yards and extended his TD streak to three games. In his career, he is five catches away from 150 and 56 receiving yards shy of 2,500.
DaVaris Daniels needs 15 receiving yards for 6,500; he is one of three active players with 40+ TD receptions (alongside Eugene Lewis and Nic Demski).
Kevin Mital, in his second year, has 27 catches for 278 yards over the last four games.
Winnipeg has won six of the teams’ last seven matchups at Princess Auto Stadium.
Last week, Brady Oliveira had 13 carries for 82 yards (6.3 avg). He sits fifth in rushing yards (260), despite playing in four games.
Tony Jones registered two sacks, six defensive tackles and one special teams tackle last week.

HAM (5-2) at EDM (1-5)

The Tiger-Cats’ last six-game winning streak came in 2019.
Hamilton leads the league in points (32.1 per game), passing yards (316.0 per game) and passing TDs (15).
The Tiger-Cats are tied for the fewest sacks allowed (seven).
Hamilton has won the teams’ last five matchups in Edmonton.
Bo Levi Mitchell is a career 16-4 against Edmonton. In his last four games, he has passed for 1,314 yards and 11 touchdown passes. At 41,224 passing yards, he is 132 shy of besting Doug Flutie (41,355) for ninth all-time.
Marc Liegghio has made his last 33 field goal attempts for the league’s longest active streak and the fourth longest all-time.
Cody Fajardo has a 6-1 record versus Hamilton. His 346 passing yards last week was the 16^th 300+ game of his career.
Last week, nine players on the Elks recorded a reception. Steven Dunbar Jr. led the way with five for 82 yards and a touchdown
Nyles Morgan has recorded back-to-back games with seven defensive tackles.

SSK (6-1) at MTL (5-2)

Last week, Saskatchewan held Edmonton to 25 rushing yards on 9 carries (2.8 avg) – the second-lowest total in a game this season. Over the past two weeks, the Riders have yielded 68 rushing yards on 19 carries (3.6 avg).
The Roughriders have won five straight on the road, dating back to last season.
Five of the Riders’ six victories have been decided by seven points or less.
Saskatchewan collected eight sacks last week with Malik Carney, Micah Johnson and Shane Ray leading the way with two each. The total was the highest in a game since Toronto’s nine in October, 2023.
Trevor Harris is a career 8-5 against Montreal. Last week, he completed 25-of-33 passes (75.8 per cent), extending his CFL record of games with 70+ per cent to 10.
Montreal’s last three games (2-1) have been decided by a total of four points.
The Alouettes have won their past two games, despite leading for a total of 6:38. They scored the game-winning points with 1:46 remaining in Week 7 against Toronto and 1:10 in Week 8 versus Calgary.
McLeod Bethel Thompson is 2-3 all-time versus Saskatchewan.
Alexandre Gagne leads the CFL with 13 special teams tackles, including at least one in each game. He is tied for 27^th all-time with 117.

Senior Manager, Communications & Public Affairs, Canadian Football League

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