Courtesy Montreal Gazette:

It’s not often that a team with a losing record captures the Grey Cup. But it can, and has, been accomplished. Alouettes veteran rush-end Anwar Stewart knows that better than anyone.

“It’s not about the best team,” he said. “It’s about the best team at 1 o’clock on Sunday.”

The Als meet the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Division semifinal that day. Logic dictates the Bombers should win. They’re playing at home, had the better record and already have defeated Montreal three times this season. But logic means little to Stewart.

The 31-year-old broke into the Canadian Football League in 2001 with Calgary. He only played one regular-season game that year, but was along for the ride and the Stampeders’ improbable playoff run.

Calgary, like Montreal, finished 8-10 that year; the only difference being the Stamps’ record put them second in the West Division, giving them the luxury of an opening-round playoff game at home, which the Als won’t enjoy. Calgary defeated British Columbia, 28-19, then travelled to Edmonton and upset the Eskimos, 34-16. In the championship game, played at Olympic Stadium, Calgary beat Winnipeg 27-19. The Bombers that season had a league-leading 14-4 record.

Coincidentally, one year earlier, an 8-10 Lions team also captured the CFL title; that squad winning twice on the road before winning the Cup with a two-point victory over the Als. Montreal was 12-6 that year.

In other words, stuff happens.

Stewart said the veterans led in 2001 and the rest followed. So the 6-foot-2, 237 pounder has taken it upon himself this week, as he has most of the season, to lead by example.

“With these young guys, if we make them work and prepare, they can get it done,” Stewart said. “The key is preparation. It’s about preparation, desire and believing. But you have to have that desire to prepare and play for your teammates.

“I can bring that wisdom and knowledge to them.”

Many Als players this week have been reporting early for film review, while staying late following practice. But will it be enough? Montreal, according to Stewart, is young and more talented than the 2001 Cup champs, because its players are more athletic.

But Stewart said he would have preferred witnessing more sacrifice and discipline during the season.

“I didn’t see that,” he admitted. “I know I would give up an organ to one of my teammates, but I don’t know if my teammates would do that for me. To me, these guys haven’t taken their job seriously, and that hurts me.

“The thing about me, and the coaches know it, is that I’m on time and respectful. I do all I can to be successful, but a lot of times we don’t focus on doing the things the coaches ask.”

Stewart is one of the few veterans left on this team, especially after the losses of quarterback Anthony Calvillo, at the side of his wife while she undergoes chemotherapy, and linebacker Timothy Strickland, placed on the nine-game injured list with a shoulder problem although he probably could have returned.

That, of course, is in the past. Everything now is about the present and future.

General manager/head coach Jim Popp remains understandably optimistic - for good reason. He has seen plenty of good Montreal teams underachieve over the years, either before the Grey Cup, such as in 2004, or when the Als got to the championship game.

And Popp appears to be relishing the role of underdog, although his coaching future might rest on the outcome of Sunday’s game.

“This team has been in a good frame of mind for a while. They’re a happy bunch,” Popp said. “They’re all loose and ready to go.

“We surely can change opinions by winning. Winning changes a lot.”