Courtesy Calgary Herald:

Tonight is not about B.C. versus Calgary.

It’s not about John Hufnagel against Wally Buono, nor is it about Henry Burris against Cameron Wake.

Not yet, anyway.

Instead, tonight’s Canadian Football League pre-season tilt at B.C. Place Stadium is about Trey Young against JoJuan Armour. It’s about Ken Simonton against Demetris Summers and Jon Cornish. It’s about Richard Karikari against Wes Lysack.

In short, it’s about jobs.

“There are still a lot of jobs to be won,” said Hufnagel, the Stampeders’ general manager and head coach. “The competition is there, and I’ve told the guys not to give up on themselves, that there’s one more game to prove that they deserve to be here. Sure, there are a few things that are probably settled in my mind, but there’s a lot of things that are still unsettled.”

They’ll be settled tonight, followed by a series of uncomfortable conversations between Hufnagel and the unsuccessful job applicants, who’ll be told thanks but no thanks in time for Saturday’s roster cutdown deadline.

Others will be told they’re better suited to backup duties and the accompanying work on special teams.

“I’ve been playing football a long time, I’ve been a backup, I’ve been a starter — it’s never the player’s decision,” said Armour, who’s in a tussle with Young and Matt Grootegoed (who’s a good bet to stick around based on his special-teams excellence) for the starting nod at weak-side linebacker. “It’s our job to make the decision hard for the coaches, and that’s what we both try to do. You really don’t have a choice. But I talk to Trey, he helps me, I help him. We’re still teammates, and we both want the team to succeed in the end.”

The Stamps’ starting offence is pretty much set across the board, but there are a couple of notable battles for backup roles.

Ben Sankey and Barrick Nealy will get a good chunk of time tonight to decide the No. 3 quarterback spot behind Burris and Dave Dickenson.

Read More…