CALGARY — The Montreal Alouettes touched down in Calgary on Tuesday afternoon, and if head coach Jason Maas has his way, the Edmonton Elks will stay exactly where he wants them all week — out of his team's heads.
Montreal meets Edmonton in the 113th Grey Cup on Sunday at McMahon Stadium, chasing the ninth Grey Cup in franchise history. The Alouettes have called it their drive for nine since last season ended, and Maas picked the theme back up at the team's arrival availability at Million Air.
"We're thrilled to be here, excited to get back to work together for one last week," Maas said.
The matchup splits the core of Montreal's 2023 championship team across Sunday's sidelines — Maas coached Cody Fajardo to that title, Davis Alexander was Fajardo's backup, and Tyson Philpot caught the winning touchdown. Asked about facing Fajardo, Maas kept the respect high and the focus inward.
"Much respect to Cody and their whole team and their organization," Maas said. "Nothing but respect for him and what he's capable of. But the focus will be this week on us, like it's been all year. It's faceless to us."
Sunday would bring Maas a fifth Grey Cup ring. He declined to rank it.
"They're all special," Maas said. "It's not the fifth one for me. Every single one of them are so special because you get to celebrate for the rest of your life."
Maas also gave his players one rule for the week: change nothing.
"If you do anything different during Grey Cup week, F you, because you're doing it wrong," Maas said. "We want you to do exactly what you've done all year."
For Philpot, the week is a homecoming. The receiver played his university football with the Calgary Dinos at McMahon Stadium and has already asked about using his old locker, where he says his name is still up.
"I had this circled on my calendar since I knew it was gonna be in Calgary," Philpot said. "Four years of my collegiate football here. It's a full circle moment, to play my pro football championship here."
Philpot, whose record-setting season made him the most decorated Canadian receiver in the league this year, put the team prize well ahead of the individual ones.
"Helping my team win a Grey Cup, that is better in my mind," Philpot said.
He also revealed the family's ticket operation runs through his brother — Stampeders receiver Jalen Philpot.
"I've kind of left Jalen in charge of that," Philpot said. "I've said phones off. If you need to get in contact with somebody for tickets, go through Jalen."
And there is no cross-field trash talk coming from him this week, with one exception — Edmonton receiver Kaion Julien-Grant is his best friend, and the two talk like regular teammates.
"Personally, I've had no contact with anyone on the other team. I like to just lock in," Philpot said. "No chirping. I think the respect is there."
Alexander, the league’s most outstanding player, makes his first Grey Cup start on Sunday. Last year he was not the starter and went into the week unsure what percentage he was at physically. This year is different.
"Now I feel healthy, ready to go, and we feel refreshed," Alexander said. "We earned our way here, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure we go back to Montreal with the Cup."
His respect for Fajardo is personal. The two battled at everything in Montreal — "ping pong, cornhole, fantasy baseball, every single thing you could imagine," Alexander said — and Alexander texted him earlier this year just to say thanks for letting a young backup learn on his hip.
"Cody is the ultimate competitor," Alexander said. "He's going to leave it all out on the field, as he did in 23. It might end up coming down to whoever has the ball in their hands last."
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