GREY CUP NOTEBOOK

BOMBER INJURIES: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will wait until the last minute before deciding if linebacker Adam Bighill and/or receiver Dalton Schoen will play in the Grey Cup.

Winnipeg listed both players as game-time decisions Saturday after neither practised this week due to injury. The Blue Bombers meet the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Sunday at Tim Hortons Field.

Schoen, a sophomore receiver, has missed Winnipeg’s last three games with an ankle injury. Bighill played in the Bombers’ 24-13 West Division final win over the B.C. Lions on Saturday but left IG Stadium on crutches. And when the Bombers made the trip to southern Ontario on Monday, Bighill wore a walking boot on his right foot.

Schoen, the CFL’s top rookie in 2022, was Winnipeg’s leading receiver this season. The 27-year-old American had 71 catches for 1,222 yards and a league-high 10 touchdown catches in 16 regular-season games.

Bighill, three times the CFL’s top defensive player, played in Saturday’s contest, registering a tackle. But the 35-year-old reportedly sustained the leg injury in the first quarter while chasing Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.

The five-foot-10, 223-pound Bighill had a team-high 74 defensive tackles this season. The Bombers’ defensive captain also added four sacks, three tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery.

GAME DAY FORECAST: Hamilton has been blessed with sunshine and mild weather in the buildup to Sunday’s Grey Cup, save for Friday which came with clouds and coolish temperatures.

And while the temperature has declined leading up to Sunday, Saturday saw sun and nine degrees Celsius.

Sunday’s forecast calls for a high of 3 C, feeling like zero, for the 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

“Love the weather,” said Bombers offensive lineman Jemarcus Hardrick. ”Winnipeg is hard on us.”

Winnipeg coach Mike O’Shea spent most of the week in shorts.

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PRE-GAME RITUALS – Winnipeg kicker Sergio Castillo looks to relax before games and that starts the night before by watching some favourite shows.

They include “The Office” and “Narcos.”

“People say ‘Narcos’ is a lot of blood,” Castillo said of the Netflix series which chronicles the rise of the cocaine trade in Colombia. “The things is I’ve watched those shows over and over, I know what’s going to happen. I know I don’t have to commit emotionally. But it gets me to an emotional standpoint, a mental standpoint where I can just relax.”

In the morning, he sleeps in and has an omelette and pancakes for breakfast. Bible study follows before kickoff.

Als kicker David Cote opts for a steak the night before games.

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TEACHING: Winnipeg offensive lineman Jemarcus (Yoshi) Hardrick runs his own lineman school in Lincoln, Neb., during the off-season.

“A lot of people train receivers and DBs (defensive backs). I have my own O-line training academy.” said Hardrick, a CFL all-star. “It’s being going great. I’ve (been) doing it for the last three years.”

He currently has five players who have earned scholarships to college.

“Those are the best messages I get. Parents not having to pay for school,” said Hardrick, a Mississippi native who attended the University of Nebraska.

The school, which draws on help from his wife and kids, is called Yoshi’s O-Line Skills and Drills. At six foot five and 317 pound, Hardrick is likely a commanding teacher

Bombers linebacker Kyrie Wilson, meanwhile, shares life experiences on an Instagram page named Health Impactor. He started it during the pandemic to help people “stay encouraged.”

SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE: Under coach Jason Maas, the Alouettes have regularly made time for anglophone players to explore and learn some basics of the French language.

Taking a page out of the Duolingo app, he would choose a word and quiz the players on its meaning.

“I’m super-grateful and I appreciate so much Jason Maas for doing this,” said defensive back Marc-Antoine Dequoy.

“If you’re American and you just say ‘Bonjour, comment ca va, merci’ – just the classic greeting – it will put a smile on people’s face, like. ‘Oh you’re making an effort,”’ he added.

For Quebec natives likes offensive linemen Kristian Matte and Philippe Gagnon, this season has been a journey to remember.

“To bring it back home, the sense of pride, it’s very special,” said Matte, who took part in the Als’ 2010 Grey Cup as a rookie. “And as a player who grew up in Montreal idolizing the Alouettes, to be an Alouette now and to only have been an Alouette so far is something special.”

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TITLE RUNS: The Grey Cup marks the second championship game this year for both Montreal linebacker Darnell Sankey and defensive lineman Lwal Uguak.

In May, Sankey and the Arlington Renegades upset the D.C. Defenders 35-26 to win the XFL championship at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

In January, Uguak and the third-ranked TCU Horned Frogs were thumped 65-7 by the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the college football national championship game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

“We’re here for redemption,” Uguak said. “Trust me.”

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WE DID NOT KNOW: Montreal coach Jason Maas’s go-to karaoke song is “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot.

(Canadian Press)