It was already shaping up to be a clash of epic storylines. The 5-4-0 BC Lions hosting the resurgent 3-6-0 Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the standalone Sunday matchup to close out week 11. A rubber match in the all-too-important season series, a chance for the home team to separate in the standings, claim the season series and erase the bitter taste of a 25-0 shutout defeat in Winnipeg just two weeks ago.
And then came Tuesday morning’s bombshell: the return of 2022 Most Outstanding Canadian Nathan Rourke. The kid who took the CFL by storm in his ten-game sampling as Lion starter is slated to be the guy on Sunday, a mere nine days after he saw action for the Atlanta Falcons in NFL pre-season action in Miami.
After a cross-continent flight back home, three frantic days of practice, film study, and production meetings with TSN, Rourke suddenly feels like a full-fledged QB1 in the CFL once again. What a difference five weeks can make: Rourke attended the last Lions home game on July 13 as a fan. Now he goes up against the last team he faced in meaningful action in the 2022 Western Final.
“I guess it’s a bit of a coincidence, but to me, it’s just the next game and I’m not looking at anything past these guys,” said Rourke of the Blue Bombers.
“These guys deserve every ounce of our respect and our attention and I’m doing my best to get acclimated as soon as possible and then work from there.”
Rourke was declared the starter on Friday with Chase Brice serving as the primary backup. Vernon Adams Jr. will once again be on the active roster without dressing as the return of Rourke also gives them the luxury of not rushing Adams back into action. Once healthy, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better quarterback room in the great white north. After a full week of preparation, there isn’t much concern about rust.
“Not the way he’s practicing. He’s been doing a good job,” said Rick Campbell.
“You never know until you get out there and play and see how things go, but he’s been working hard this week and getting acclimated to our offence and what we’re doing. He’s looked good in practice and if it translates into the game then he’ll do just fine.”
“A team like this, with the talent that we have, our expectations are always going to be high,” Rourke added.
“I think it’s important for everyone out there to kind of temper their expectations. I’m not expecting to set any records this week. This group is certainly capable of that. The situation is a bit unique and we’re going against a really good team. We’re focusing on winning and that’s really it. Hopefully, people can give me the benefit of the doubt in this situation, coming in and having to take over mid-week. At the end of the day, excited to be back, thrilled to be back and hoping for the best this weekend.
Amidst all the excitement, this is still a Lion squad reeling from a three-game losing streak after a 5-1 start to the season. The big men protecting Rourke have taken it to heart as much as any of the positional groups.
“We’re not going to point fingers at anybody when stuff goes bad. Just knowing we have to hold each other accountable, making sure that we stay together as a group,” said left tackle Jarell Broxton.
“In professional football, there will be W’s and there will be L’s. We have to stick together through the challenges.”
Sunday could very well be a defining chapter of the 2024 story.
The Quarterbacks
# 12 Nathan Rourke- fans will remember his heroic return for the playoffs that year, but Sunday marks his first regular-season start at home since August 7, 2022 when he torched the Edmonton Elks for a second time in that brilliant ten-game stretch. Ironically, the Bombers handed Rourke his only home loss as a Lion in game four of that campaign. It should be electric when 12 takes the field for the first time since November 2022.
# 8- Zach Collaros- the two-time Grey Cup champion enjoyed a solid outing in the teams’ meeting two weeks ago, throwing for 295 yards and a touchdown to Lucky Whitehead. Collaros gets another one of his favourite targets back this week in Kenny Lawler. The California Golden Bears product has made a habit of showing up big against the Lions with a pair of 200-plus yard performances to his credit.
3 Lions To Watch
WR # 18 Justin McInnis– despite a quiet couple of weeks, the big target remains the CFL’s leader with 834 receiving yards. It will be intriguing to see who emerges as Rourke’s top target in his re-debut behind centre.
DB # 1 Garry Peters- with Lawler returning, Petey will draw the assignment to help neutralize one of the league’s top playmakers. Eliminating the big-play capability of Winnipeg’s offence will provide a key path to victory.
LB # 46 Ben Hladik- cleared to play after leaving the Edmonton loss with a calf strain, Hladik and the linebackers will be called upon to clean anything up when number 20 in white, Brady Oliveira, manages to get past the first level of the defence.
Extra Yards
This Lions-Bombers clash is on TSN and RDS2 in Canada while viewers south of the border can watch it on CBS Sports Network and stream on CFL+. Bob Marjanovich and Giulio Caravatta have the radio call on 980 CKNW and the Lions Audio Network beginning with the pre-game show at 3:00 pm. Harp Pandher and Taqdeer Thindal call the action on Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 starting at 3:30 with the pre-game. Additionally, the game can be heard on Sirius XM Canada Talks Channel 167.
Crunching Rourke numbers: the Victoria native holds a 9-3 regular season record as a starting quarterback, with two of those losses coming to the Blue Bombers.
More lineup notes: Defensive back, Winnipeg native and 2023 draft pick Charlie Ringland makes his CFL debut as Cristophe Beaulieu (ankle) is on the shelf this week. On the defensive line, Jonah Tavai returns with Marcus Moore coming off as a healthy scratch. The depth chart above lists a few changes surrounding the starting lineup.
The shutout win by Winnipeg was no anomaly. They enter this contest on top of the league with only 20.7 points per game allowed. In their last three games, they have averaged only 11.7 points given up to the opposing offence.
The Lions will aim to win a season series with Winnipeg for the first time since 2017. It was October 28 of that year when Jonathon Jennings, Chris Rainey and company picked up a second win in three meetings at windy IG Field (as it was known then), one week after seeing their CFL-best 20-year playoff streak officially come to an end.
Head coach Mike O’Shea and general manager Kyle Walters are a victory shy of 100 for their solid tenure in Manitoba. The duo took over ahead of 2014 and have made the playoffs in eight straight seasons after not qualifying in their first two.