Photo courtesy: Thomas Skrlj/CFL.

Though he denies feeling any pressure heading into this weekend’s Grey Cup in Winnipeg, there is no player with more to gain from victory than Trevor Harris.

The starting quarterback of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who will turn 40 in May, is one of three quarterbacks who entered the CFL in 2012 and gone on to enjoy a highly productive career.

Bo Levi Mitchell is arguably the most successful of the three, earning three All-CFL selections, winning two Grey Cups as a starter, receiving five divisional nominations for Most Outstanding Player. Though it appears Nathan Rourke is the favourite for this year’s award, it’s possible Mitchell will win a third M.O.P. later this week.

Zach Collaros, who was a teammate of Harris for two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, has likely been the second-most successful. He’s earned two All-CFL selections, won M.O.P. both times he received a divisional nomination, and won two Grey Cups as a starter.

Then there’s Harris.

There’s no questioning the veteran’s production — he ranks No. 13 all-time in passing yards, No. 15 all-time in passing touchdowns, and No. 2 all-time in passer rating.

The rest of his resumé, however, is relatively bare.

Harris has started only one Grey Cup and struggled in the game, throwing one touchdown pass and three interceptions as his Ottawa Redblacks lost to the Calgary Stampeders in 2018. He’s never been named All-CFL or a divisional finalist for M.O.P.

Fair or not, these are key criteria by which quarterbacks are judged. Right now, Harris lacks many of the accolades of his contemporaries.

There’s no doubt that Mitchell and Collaros will be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, possibly even as first-ballot selections. Despite his strong production, the same can’t be definitively said about Harris.

The native of Waldo, Ohio has also had the most nomadic career of the three passers.

Mitchell remains the only quarterback in Stampeders history to win multiple Grey Cups as a starter, which is pretty remarkable given how many great passers have played for the team. Though his tenure in Hamilton got off to a rocky start, he’s been excellent the past two seasons, leading the team to a first-place finish in the East Division this year.

Collaros has been a member of four different teams but will forever be remembered as the quarterback of the Blue Bombers who reached five-straight Grey Cups. The stints he had in Toronto, Hamilton, and Saskatchewan are little more than footnotes at this point of his career. His legacy will be dyed in blue and gold.

Harris has no such legacy — yet. He’s dressed for 189 career regular-season CFL games, which are spread relatively evenly across the Argonauts, Redblacks, Edmonton Elks, Montreal Alouettes, and Roughriders. When one pictures Harris, it’s tough to imagine him wearing a particular jersey. He’s donned almost every colour of the CFL rainbow.

If he retired today, Harris would probably be remembered along the same lines as someone like Kevin Glenn — a competent, likeable quarterback who played for a long time with a bunch of different teams, but never won anything big.

The six-foot-three, 212-pound passer has an opportunity to change that this week in Winnipeg. Winning a Grey Cup for the Saskatchewan Roughriders would not only cement his legacy in Riderville but across the CFL.

One might expect Harris to be feeling considerable pressure given how much is on the line this week but he claimed he’s never been bothered by the weight of high stakes.

“I have never really felt pressure. I kind of just go with the moment, play football, do what I’m supposed to do. I don’t feel like I’ve ever had a moment that’s gotten too big for me,” Harris told the media on Monday. “Pressure’s what you put in tires, I guess. I kind of just go out there and play ball. I’m thankful for my teammates, honestly.”

Despite a relatively poor performance in the Grey Cup seven years ago, Harris has otherwise done well in the playoffs, throwing for 3,400 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 10 games. His best performance came in the East Final in 2018 when he threw six touchdown passes to upset the first-place Tiger-Cats, marking one of the greatest playoff performances in CFL history.

When asked what it would mean to win his first Grey Cup as a starter, the league’s fifth-oldest player chose to turn the focus back to his teammates.

“It sure would be awesome, but I think I’d just be more excited to do this with my teammates more so than anything of like getting this proverbial monkey off your back or whatever it is,” he said.

“I don’t feel like a moment’s ever been too big for me and I feel like I’ve performed in big moments my whole career. I’m not really too concerned about a narrative of that.”

Playing for your teammates is honourable but there’s a lot more at stake for Harris on Sunday whether he’s focused on it or not.

With a win, he would be only the fifth quarterback ever to lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup win.

With a loss, this would be just another missed opportunity on his resumé.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16 with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.

The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, while the Roughriders came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Montreal franchise quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games due to a hamstring injury.

The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.

This marks the fifth time the Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg and the second time it will be hosted at Princess Auto Stadium. The venue’s first Grey Cup was held in 2015 when the Edmonton Football Team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks by a score of 26-20 and Michael Reilly was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.