Calgary running back Jon Cornish’s 180 yard and two touchdown display of dominance against the Edmonton Eskimos last weekend has elevated his stock in the Most Outstanding Player race
There were also several disappointing performances from other candidates but the up and down play of the league’s top players is making this race one of the closest in years.
Jon Cornish, RB, Calgary Stampeders
Cornish scored the game’s first points when he took a direct snap 73 yards to the house early in the second quarter. He added several more big runs and another touchdown, giving him 180 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
The bruising tailback crossed over 1,000 yards rushing on the season and now sits at 1127 yards.
With five weeks remaining he has the single-season rushing record by a Canadian in his sights, needing only 346 yards to beat the record set by Normie Kwong in 1956 for the Eskimos.
Chris Williams, WR/KR, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
While the dynamic return man/receiver didn’t have his most impressive game of the season he did extend his touchdown lead on the season to 13, comfortably ahead of Cornish and Kory Sheets who have 10 apiece.
Williams scored on a short strike from quarterback Henry Burris to give the Ti-Cats a 14-0 lead over the Alouettes that they wouldn’t relinquish, as they defeated East leading Montreal 41-28.
Anthony Calvillo, QB, Montreal Alouettes
The veteran signal-caller had an uncharacteriscally ineffective night, throwing for only 197 yards.
He did manage to toss two touchdowns and no interceptions but it is rare that Calvillo doesn’t pass for 250 yards or so. Of course the Larks lost and their lead in the East is now down to only one game over the Argos.
Chad Owens, WR/KR, Toronto Argonauts
Owens had a tough outing against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, only touching the ball three times on offence for a total of three yards, but he did add 92 return yards to his total.
He leads the league in return yards with 1,958 and 3,009 total yards and has big leads in both categories.
Travis Lulay, QB, B.C Lions
Lulay and the Lions sputtered in the first half against the Roughriders heading into halftime with an 18-1 deficit.
Lulay led a strong comeback in the second half, outscoring Saskatchewan 20-9 but still fell short in the end, succumbing to the Riders 27-21.
Lulay threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two picks.
J.C. Sherritt, MLB, Edmonton Eskimos
Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing the Eskies stalwart linebacker in a must-win matchup against the Tiger-Cats this weekend.
Sherritt was injured in the Stampeders game this past weekend. He still managed to make three tackles taking his league lead to 104.
Sherritt is still on pace to break the league record of 129 set by Calvin Tiggle in 1994.