It’s Blackout night at TD Place, when the Ottawa REDBLACKS host the BC Lions in a 7:30pm ET kickoff.

With fans asked to wear their best black attire, and bring non-perishable food items in support of Purolator Tackle Hunger, it will again be Dustin Crum leading the REDBLACKS as they enter the first of this home-and-home set. Despite Dru Brown remaining sidelined with a knee injury, and Canadians Dariusz Bladek and Cleyon Laing now out of the lineup as well, the REDBLACKS will still get a slew of reinforcements. The likes of Bralon Addison, Lucas Cormier, Davion Taylor, Charlie Ringland, Robert Priester, Sam Carson, and Muftah Areli all return and the newly-acquired Mark Milton makes his debut at halfback.

Fresh off their second bye week of the season, the REDBLACKS are looking to rebound from Week 12’s 30-20 home field loss to the Edmonton Elks. Crum threw for 277 yards and touchdown to Andre Miller, also scoring on the ground in the effort. Ace Eley picked up his first career interception on defence, leading the way with seven tackles, while Mike Wakefield and Blessman Ta’ala were credited with sacks.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Lions also find themselves eyeing a return to the win column, after dropping a tough 52-34 road decision to the Toronto Argonauts. Nathan Rourke and the offence did their part, with the star pivot completing 20 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns to Jevon Cottoy, and an interception. James Butler scored twice on the ground, racking up 83 yards on 11 carries. Keon Hatcher was their leading receiver, with 131 yards on seven grabs.

Defensively, former REDBLACK Micah Awe made a team-high nine tackles. Mathieu Betts recorded a sack and a forced fumble, with Sione Teuhema also getting to the quarterback.

IN THEIR WORDS
BOB DYCE, HEAD COACH, ON WHAT IMPROVING OVER THE BYE WEEK: “We’ve spent a lot of time evaluating not just this last game, but the past few games, and identifying some areas that we need to maybe adapt a couple of things. At the end of the day, the biggest thing for us is we’ve got to make sure we finish. It’s not just the end of the game, it’s every rep. You finish on every single play. That’s what we have to be better at.”

DUSTIN CRUM, QUARTERBACK, ON HIS MINDSET AS A STARTER: “You want to do the best job you can for your teammates and your brothers, but you don’t try to carry any extra weight or pressure because, at the end of the day, you’re going to get yourself in more trouble if you do. So I’m just going to do my job to the best of my ability, get the guy ball into my guys’ hands.

LUCAS CORMIER, LINEBACKER, ON THE TEAM’S OUTLOOK DOWN THE STRETCH: “Nobody wants to lose games, but the good thing is, with the CFL, everybody says that the season starts on Labour Day. I think we have a great opportunity to, you know, start stacking games and put ourselves in a great position. So we’re obviously grateful for that. The type of people that we have in this building and just in this industry, if you don’t believe and drive and are always looking to win and make a push for the playoffs, I think you’re probably in the wrong spot. So, yeah, I think everybody’s very much locked in on the season that we have in front of us and the opportunity we still have.”

BROADCAST INFO
WATCH: TSN
STREAM: CFL+
LISTEN: TSN 1200, 104.7 FM OUTAOUAIS (FR), SIRIUSXM (ch.167)