WINNIPEG — As the lead-up to the 112th Grey Cup continues with a busy week of activities for both the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes, A.J. Ouellette is doing his best to keep an even keel through it all.
The Riders’ standout running back has been here and done all this before, winning the whole thing with the Toronto Argonauts back in 2022. That experience taught Ouellette what Grey Cup week was going to be like, especially with all the hoopla surrounding the game — considering that contest was played at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, things were especially through the roof in the lead-up to kick-off.
So the past week has been a matter of making sure things keep on keeping on, without letting the emotions of the whole championship experience get too far ahead of himself and his teammates.
“It’s counting down the seconds to be able to go play football,” Ouellette said. “I like the build-up, the amplifying of this game, but when it comes down to it, I think the players need to put into focus that it's just a football game — focus on football and it'll be good.”
Of course, get too relaxed and or enjoy the moment too much and it could have an effect on your preparations. That’s where knowing when and how to put your energy to good use can make a difference, and it’s something Ouellette picked up on in his first Grey Cup rodeo.
“Amped up early in the week's fine, amped up at practice is good,” he said. “I treat it like game day, there's certain parts of the day that you need to be calm, you need to be chill and then you need to amp up. If your whole week's too amped then you're gonna be crashed by the end of the week, so do that roller coaster ride day in and day out and make sure you're ready for the game.”
The importance of the situation certainly doesn’t make it easy to relax at times, knowing how much the game ahead means to everyone involved. And as one might expect, there are moments of reflection where things all come into hard focus.
“One more game this year and that's it, that's all you're guaranteed, that's all your career's guaranteed,” Ouellette said. “So do whatever is possible in your hands to win the game. Take it in, it’s hard to get here, it's hard to win in professional football. Enjoy the moment, you never know when you and your teammates will have the opportunity to get to another Grey Cup, so win it for them.”
With all that in mind, it still comes down to a game of football. Ouellette and his offensive teammates will be doing everything they can in the coming days to make sure things go as well as they can on Sunday.
“Study the defence, know them better than they know themselves, enjoy the off the field stuff with the team, become even closer brothers,” Ouellette said of the plan for the rest of Grey Cup week. “Then go out and execute.”
Be sure to catch the Rider Broadcast Network Grey Cup pre-game show featuring Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk, Wes Cates, Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder at 2 p.m on Sunday, followed by the game call of the 112th Grey Cup at 5 p.m.
