McDiarmid firing a ‘wake-up call’: Maas

Team faces Bombers following bye week

The last time the Ottawa Redblacks came off a bye week, in late August, they seemed to sleep through a 21-11 loss to the Montreal Alouettes.

Now, following another week off after a terrific 28-15 win against the Eskimos, the Redblacks fully expect to be energized for Friday night’s home game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a team they knocked off 44-21 in midAugust, just before their last bye.

The mindset is one of “don’t worry about what’s ahead.” With an 8-5 record, the Redblacks will have four regular-season games remaining after playing the Bombers.

“We’ve been real simple in our thought process: Just worry about that Winnipeg is our next game here, 7:30 Friday night,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said Monday. “It’s just one game at a time, I know that sounds like coach-speak. This is our game of the week, so we want to direct all our energy and make sure we play well Friday.”

Quarterback Trevor Harris echoed those sentiments.

“It’s just about getting win No. 9; it’s just about getting the next win,” he said. “Winnipeg is a very tough team, they’re very dangerous.”

It has been an up-and-down season for the Harris-led offence. However, the last two performances — in wins of 30-25 against the Roughriders and 28-15 against Edmonton — have shown glimpses of what the Redblacks can do. Sure, they need to get better when they’re in scoring territory, but Harris has looked sharp.

He said he worked on sharpening his skills during the bye week.

“I feel great physically, as good as I’ve felt at this point in any season of my career in the CFL,” he said. “I was antsy to get back.”

Even as the CFL season nears its conclusion, Harris says his passing arm is holding up well.

“That’s why you train, that’s why you do all the work you do, to make sure your arm will hold up for an entire season. I feel fine,” he said.

As the Redblacks head down the home stretch that includes a key back-to-back series later this month against the Tiger-Cats that could decide who finishes first in the East Division, they know nothing will be given to them.

“We played Montreal and they have been playing some really good football lately,” Harris said.

“Saskatchewan is really good. B.C. is playing really well; their pass rush is really good. Edmonton had been playing some good football; they beat Calgary ... Aside from Calgary being 11-2, everyone is in a logjam.