Courtesy Vancouver Sun:

The second round of the CFL playoffs reached spy mode several days ago.

Partially-closed practices by the B.C. Lions. Saskatchewan Roughriders players being asked by Regina media types about allegations the home team in the CFL’s West Division final pumps in crowd noise at B.C. Place Stadium.

Covert stuff, all right. And when the contest is reduced to basics, the Lions do indeed have a spy ready for the biggest weapon in the Riders’ offensive arsenal, quarterback Kerry Joseph.

It’s not as if Otis Floyd is ready to come out from under cover, though. Talk to Floyd about what he must do Sunday and coach Wally Buono will walk by and issue a gag order to the linebacker not to talk shop too much.

But when the teams meet for the fifth time this season counting exhibition play, few secrets are left anymore. Floyd knew what is in store for him the moment Joseph had put the finishing touches to the Riders’ divisional semifinal win over the Calgary Stampeders.

Joseph runs, Floyd follows.

“When I saw the game it was like boy, am I going to be busy,” Floyd said.

What will take place in the din of the dome is not strictly Joseph vs. Floyd, but it’s close.

“You don’t want to say its a one-man show but everything starts with (Joseph) and finishes with him,” said defensive back Ryan Phillips.

It’ll be one thing if Joseph passes for 354 yards like he did the last time the teams met Sept. 22, but it is what the Saskatchewan quarterback does with his feet that can be daunting.

Perhaps the only certainty based on his season to date is when the Riders get inside the Lions’ 20-yard line, their quarterback will try to pull off another play-fake handoff and head for the goal-line with the ball.

The truth lies in the numbers, and not just the fact he ran for 109 yards last week. In his 17 games a starter this year, the Riders are 6-2 when Joseph rushes in excess of 50 yards, 8-2 when he has more than five carries, and 8-3 when he scored one of his 13 rushing touchdowns.

Only four times during his 11 wins as a starter did Joseph pass for more than 300 yards. That’s a trend.

“When he first came in to the league in Ottawa we couldn’t believe he’s so fast,” said Javy Glatt, the other Lions linebacker who will have his hands full.

“He doesn’t run as much now. Instead of running 20 times and getting two yards he runs 10 times and gets 10 yards every time. He’s not (retired quarterback and noted lead-foot) Danny McManus back there.”

McManus or any other analyst can debate the relative attributes of the 34-year-old divisional nominee for the league’s most outstanding player award, who took a $125,000 pay cut this season and never complained.

But the coach who brought to Joseph the field awareness he demonstrated when leading the Riders to the 1989 Grey Cup also says there is an inner passion which can’t be neutralized in a film session.

“Kerry has a burning desire to be a leader on every possible level,” Riders coach Kent Austin said this week.

Yet that also describes the more boisterous Floyd on the field, especially now that he is over the abdominal strain that prevented him from hunting down Joseph and others the first half of the season.

“If he’s running,” Floyd said. “It’s going to be a long game.”

With lockdown mode already in force, it may be the only overt remark of relevance uttered by the Lions until kickoff.