A familiar Grey Cup matchup will take place two rounds earlier this season.
The Toronto Argonauts (9-9) will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-9) in the CFL East semifinal at BMO Field on Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ win over the Edmonton Elks in the regular-season finale on Saturday dropped the Blue Bombers into fourth in the West, giving Winnipeg the crossover spot in the CFL Playoffs.
The Argos beat the Blue Bombers in the 2022 and 2024 Grey Cup games.
All eyes will be on Blue Bombers star quarterback Zach Collaros this week at practice. He was knocked out of Friday’s season-ending win versus the B.C. Lions with an upper-body injury. Dru Brown replaced Collaros and led the Blue Bombers to a victory with a strong performance, clinching a playoff spot for the 10th year in a row.
Brown started both of Winnipeg’s games against Toronto this season while Collaros was sidelined with injuries, with the teams splitting the two contests.
Brown also started the last CFL playoff game in Toronto with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2024. The Argos won 58-38 in that East semifinal.
Argos quarterback Chad Kelly missed Toronto’s final game on Friday with a lower-body injury, but the home contest against Montreal meant nothing in the standings.
The Blue Bombers also were the crossover team last season, losing to the Montreal Alouettes in the East semifinal.
No crossover team, which occurs when the fourth-place team in one division finishes higher than the third-place team in the other, has ever advanced to the Grey Cup.
The winner of the East semifinal will go to Montreal next week to face the Alouettes in the division final.