STAMPS: Cornish races toward title
Tailback leaves compliments to others
EDMONTON — Calgary Stampeders tailback Jon Cornish owns a smartphone and a computer, so he’s aware of the rumblings out of Regina emanating from the mouth of Kory Sheets.
Last week, Sheets pronounced himself the best running back in the land as the CFL rushing title comes down to the wire.
With three games remaining on the docket, Cornish holds a 137-yard lead on his Saskatchewan counterpart. In 14 starts, Cornish has carried the ball 215 times for 1,545 yards and 11 touchdowns. In 13 starts, Sheets sits at 251 carries for 1,408 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“I think he’s a good back,” Cornish said Thursday upon arrival at Commonwealth Stadium. “I think he’s a great back. I think he has abilities that go beyond what I’m capable of.” But ... “I think ‘best’ is a subjective term,” Cornish said.
“So it’s not necessarily the best thing to describe yourself as. It’s more left to other people.”
Whether he’s best or second best in the eyes of other people, Cornish is known to put up big games in the City of Champions.
His secret for success against the Eskimos?
“One of my favourite parts of coming to Edmonton is enjoying Queen Donair,” Cornish said, displaying signs of a potential second (or third) career as a food reviewer. “A lot of the guys on the team claim it’s the best donair in Canada, and I happen to agree with them.
“I like the super donair with extra sauce and extra sauce on the side.”
Where is the Food Network when you need it?
Esks ‘good team,’
Glenn says
With zero chance at qualifying for the playoffs, the Edmonton Eskimos were a loose bunch Thursday judging by the pickup basketball game (sans nets) in their palatial lockerroom.
But Calgary quarterback Kevin Glenn expects the Esks to roar out of the tunnel on a mission Friday night in search of only their second victory all season long at Commonwealth Stadium.
“We know we’re going to get their best,” Glenn said. “They’re at home. They’re a pretty good team. Their record doesn’t indicate that, but they are a good team when you watch them on film.
“The last couple of times we’ve played them, it’s been a good game. So we know it’s going to be a dogfight.”
Receiver Fuller a QB’s ‘dream’
Another week, another new face in the Calgary receiving corps.
At six-foot-four, 223 pounds, Jeff Fuller gives the Stampeders an imposing target with speed in place of the injured Joe West at wide receiver.
“He’s very athletic,” Glenn says of the Texas A&M standout. “He’s a quarterback’s dream. You don’t have to be perfect with the ball in order for him to actually come down with the catch. He’s one of those guys that if you put it in his vicinity, he’ll actually come down with the catch.
“I think he’s a matchup problem with his size.”
The diminutive Clifton Smith put on a show for the Stamps on returns last week in his CFL debut (he sits this week in favour of veteran Larry Taylor).
So all eyes are on Fuller as he plays the first game of his pro career with an eye to helping the Stamps down the stretch.
“He’s a good-size receiver with good quickness, good speed — strong,” said head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “I was a little more comfortable last week with Clifton, because he’s played professional football. This young man hasn’t played for a couple of years, since college.
“He’s very anxious. He’s excited. He’s worked hard to get ready. I’m just asking him to do his job. When the ball comes his way, catch it.”
EXTRA POINTS ... Calgary RB Jon Cornish is riding a three-game streak with 100-plus rushing yards — making him the first Stampeder to do so in eight years ( Joffrey Reynolds was the last to turn the trick.) Should Cornish maintain his average of 7.3 yards per carry, he’ll finish this season with the highest average ever for a CFL running back ... Calgary QB Kevin Glenn is making his 152nd career start tonight. His record overall is 79-71-1. This season, Glenn is 10-2 as a starter for the Stamps ... Friday’s game marks the first time the Stamps and Eskimos have met with one team nine games ahead of the other in the standings. The Eskimos have lost six games by five points or less in 2013 ... Calgary SB Marquay McDaniel is one of only seven players this season with at least a catch in all 15 games. The others are: Chris Getzlaf, Andrew Harris, Bakari Grant, S.J. Green, Andre Durie and Jason Barnes ... Calgary DL Justin Phillips will mark his 100th CFL game Friday against the Eskimos ... Calgary DE Charleston Hughes needs one sack for 50 in his career and one tackle for 250 in his career.