Ottawa is confident heading into title game

OTTAWA — Before the regular season even started, Rick Campbell had a feeling something special was brewing with his Ottawa Redblacks.

“As we were going through training camp, I just thought there was something about these guys — that they had the right spirit to them, the right fight,” the Redblacks head coach said. “I remember going to play that (pre-season) game in Guelph (against the Toronto Argonauts) when there’s basically very few people watching that game, and our guys fought and didn’t care that it was a pre-season game, and those are just really good traits to have.”

Campbell’s thoughts were validated last Sunday when the Redblacks hammered the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 46-27 in the Canadian Football League East final to advance to the Grey Cup game. The Redblacks met with reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday before flying to Edmonton to begin preparations for Sunday’s title tilt against the Calgary Stampeders.

It is Ottawa’s third trip to the final in the franchise’s five-year history.

The Stampeders have been the CFL’s standard of excellence in the regular season, but Calgary has struggled to get the job done when it counts. The Stampeders have been the losing side in the last two Grey Cup games despite being heavy favourites.

Calgary, with veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell at the helm, will be considered the favourite again on Sunday. But no one should underestimate the Redblacks and Trevor Harris after his performance in the East final.

Harris put himself in elite company with a record-setting six touchdown passes and a 90.6 per cent completion rate using 10 different receivers. Sunday will be the 32-year-old’s first Grey Cup start.

Harris was nearly thrown into action in 2016 when Henry Burris suffered an injury in warm-up, but moments before kickoff Burris was cleared to play and led Ottawa to a 39-33 overtime victory over Calgary.

Now it’s Harris’s turn to take the big stage.

“I’m grateful. It’s not something I take lightly,” he said. “I put my best foot forward every day and prepare my butt off and I’m going to do everything I can this week, just like I always have.”