As their journey continues toward what appears to be a date with destiny and a return trip to the Grey Cup game, the Alouettes vow they won’t lose sight of their weekly mandate.
And if anyone knows head coach Jason Maas and what makes him tick, he won’t allow complacency to set in.
“It’s still early in the season. For us, I don’t see a difference,” safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy said. “There’s always going to be something with Maas. That’s the difference, how professional we are. It starts with the coaching. They set a tone. He sets the tone, how it’s going to be coming to work. You know him. It’s not going to be relaxed. It starts with him.”
The Alouettes, on a four-game winning streak, are preparing to host the Edmonton Elks on Sunday night at Molson Stadium (7 p.m., TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM). It’s Montreal’s final game before its second bye week of the schedule and while the Elks (3-7) are last in the West Division, the team is on a three-game winning streak.
Quarterback Cody Fajardo returns as the Als’ starter after missing four games with a hamstring injury. Montreal also welcomes back Austin Mack, its leading receiver last season, following his recent release from the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
The Alouettes (9-1) are first in the East Division. A victory against Edmonton would put them on the brink of qualifying for the playoffs, according to the CFL. While it appears Montreal has secured at least third place in its division, the final hurdle is eliminating the remote possibility of a West Division crossover team qualifying, meaning only two teams from the East would make the playoffs.
Montreal, of course, is after bigger game, hoping to finish first in their division and securing an opening-round bye before hosting the division final with a trip to Vancouver’s Grey Cup match on the line. But even that scenario doesn’t come with any guarantee. Toronto (16-2) finished first last season before getting thumped by the visiting Alouettes 38-17.
“There has been a lot of great teams that have done some amazing things but, at the end, they’ve not got it done,” centre Justin Lawrence said. “For us, our biggest focus is not worrying about what’s ahead. We’re worrying about Sunday.
“I’m not too worried about anyone, especially myself, losing concentration,” Lawrence added. “At the end of the day, this is our job. We get paid to play football. If we don’t show up every day and do what we’re supposed to do, we have the possibility of losing our job. We have to come in every single day wanting to get better. Come playoff time, everyone’s on another level. We have to make sure we’re on top of things.”
Not only have the Alouettes lost only once this season — and might have remained undefeated had Fajardo not been injured — they ended 2023 with a eight-game winning streak, including post-season, after halting a four-game losing skid in mid-September. This run has been incredible.
“It’s hard to keep the same momentum, especially with the off-season and new players,” Dequoy said. “We don’t feel like we’ve missed a beat. Kudos to the coaches, the staff and the players.
“As crazy as it is being on the run, this year compared to last year, we’re more hard on ourselves. It’s pretty crazy the situation we’re in, but we’re not surprised, if you see how hard we work, how passionate we are and the effort we put in.”
Montreal hasn’t finished first in its division since 2012 and can hardly take its foot off the gas with Ottawa (6-2-1) still within striking distance heading into Saturday night’s home game against B.C. The Alouettes and Redblacks meet twice more this season. Even Toronto (6-4) could still make a run now that suspended quarterback Chad Kelly has returned. Montreal and the Argonauts meet once more in late September at Toronto.
“I don’t think anyone will rest on our laurels,” Maas said. “Everybody understands how hard it is to win in this league. It takes a tremendous amount of work. We will put the work in. We won’t lose focus.
“You see the guys’ effort, the way we expect (to win). You see the competition (in practice), see the guys not take for granted what we are. The reason we believe is because of those. As long as those are present, I’ll always believe in us.”
The organization will honour members of the 1974 Grey Cup championship team at halftime on Sunday.