GAME DAY: EDMONTON AT CALGARY, 7 P.M.
The Edmonton Eskimos hope the man who was their third-stringer to start this season can produce a storybook first CFL start.
Mired in a four-game losing streak, the Eskimos will look to quarterback Matt Nichols for much-needed relief when they visit the Calgary Stampeders tonight.
"Matt is a decisive decisionmaker," Edmonton head coach Kavis Reed said Thursday at McMahon Stadium. "Although you can't simulate game speed in practice, when we put him in scenarios and circumstances in which he has to be a quick thinker, he's passed the test with flying colours.
"We feel the entire playbook is open to us."
The 25-year-old from Redding, California, is getting the ball because the Esks say neither Steven Jyles nor Kerry Joseph are healthy enough to start. Both are on today's game roster, however, with Jyles at No. 2 behind Nichols.
Nichols, an Eastern Washington product, was signed by Edmonton in 2010. He's had time to absorb the Canadian game, playing a series in a 51-8 loss to Hamilton on Sept. 15, when he threw a pair of scoring passes which were called back because of penalties.
He threw his first career touchdown pass Sept. 7 in a 20-18 loss to the Stampeders.
"I feel comfortable with the things I've done this week, things I've learned over the last year and a half with this team," Nichols said. "I've felt comfortable the couple of times I've been in this year and hope to continue that this week.
"It's been a couple of years since I've played a real, meaningful game. It's an opportunity to play the game that I love. The opportunity to win a football game, that's our job."
Today's game is the third meeting between Calgary and Edmonton this month. The Stampeders edged Esks 31-30 on Labour Day and won the rematch four days later by two points.
Edmonton is at the bottom of the CFL's West Division at 5-7, while the Stamps - second in the West Division at 7-5 - can claim the season series against Edmonton with a victory today.
