It\u2019s the last long weekend of summer and I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n
OK Tire Labour Day Weekend means you have three of the best rivalries in Canadian sports packed into two days on a long weekend.<\/p>\n
To honour this cherished tradition of the CFL, I\u2019ve compiled the Canadians each team will need to step up if they\u2019re going to prevail this coming weekend!<\/p>\n
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS<\/p>\n
PATRICK NEUFELD | CHRIS KOLANKOWSKI | GABE WALLACE | OFFENSIVE LINEMEN<\/p>\n
The interior of the offensive line needs to protect Zach Collaros<\/a> from the team with the most sacks in the Canadian Football League and open holes for Oliveira.<\/p>\n If the Bombers hope to leave Regina with a victory on Sunday, it\u2019ll be up to the trio of Canadians in the middle of the offensive line to be the hammer and not the nail.<\/p>\n SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS<\/p>\n A.J. ALLEN | LINEBACKER<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A.J. Allen<\/a>, this is your mission. Do not let Brady Oliveira out of your sights.<\/p>\n Allen has stepped up tremendously this season after the injury to C.J. Avery<\/a> at the start of the season and the departure of Adam Auclair in the off-season.<\/p>\n While a bulk of the duty may be on Thurman in the middle of the defence, Allen will be tasked in coverage of Oliveira out of the backfield at times and to help fill the gaps when the Bombers predictably make Oliveira the focus of their offence.<\/p>\n If Allen can help the Riders defence force Zach Collaros<\/a> into trying to beat the Riders through the air because they can\u2019t get anything going on the ground, it increases the Riders\u2019 odds of victory tremendously.<\/p>\n TORONTO ARGONAUTS<\/p>\n KEVIN MITAL | RECEIVER<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Toronto Argonauts absolutely do not run the football.<\/p>\n Their run game is Kevin Mital. The only players in the top 45 of CFL receiving with a lower target depth are Brady Oliveira<\/a>, James Butler<\/a> and Justin Rankin.<\/p>\n Do you notice something there? They\u2019re all running backs. So Mital has become a pseudo-receiving tailback for the Argonauts, and his ability to break tackles is fun to watch. He leads the league in target-to-catch percentage and is right up there in YAC.<\/p>\n Mital needs to be that balance in the Argonauts arsenal for the Labour Day Classic for the Argos to slow the game down, because if they get into a shootout against the Tiger-Cats again, it\u2019s going to go as well as it did the first time.<\/p>\n I think if Mital can hammer out some 10-15 yard gains and pick up first downs on second and medium, it\u2019s going to go a long way towards owning time of possession.<\/p>\n HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n STAVROS KATSANTONIS | DEFENSIVE BACK<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n