CALGARY — Cody Fajardo did not pretend otherwise. Asked Tuesday whether Sunday's the 113th Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes — the team that shipped him out — carries extra weight, the Edmonton Elks quarterback said what everyone in the room already knew.
"I'd be lying to stand up here and say that some games just don't mean a little bit more," Fajardo said at the Elks' arrival media conference at Million Air. "A Grey Cup, the biggest game of the year, playing your former team that kind of shipped you out and traded you — things are going to mean a little bit more."
Fajardo won the 2023 Grey Cup with Montreal, in Montreal head coach Jason Maas's offence, with Davis Alexander as his backup. Now he starts against both of them, chasing a rare double — a Grey Cup won as a starter with two different teams.
"Honestly, a lot," Fajardo said of what it would mean. "The way this organization has brought me in and treated me and treated my family, and the players have rallied behind me."
His respect for the other sideline runs deep, starting with Alexander, who sat in his meetings every morning in Montreal and took notes.
"I gave him too much of the blueprint, I think. He's kind of ran with it," Fajardo said. "There's not a lot of young quarterbacks that come into this league and just take it over, and that's what he's done."
The way to slow Alexander down, in Fajardo's telling, is to keep him standing on the sideline — long drives, heavy time of possession, and let the league's best defence stay fresh.
Fajardo also confirmed he has seen the guarantee. Alouettes receiver Tyler Snead promised a Montreal win after the East Final. Fajardo sent it to him.
"It was pretty one-sided, and pretty quiet on the other side," Fajardo said. "Outside the 60 minutes, nothing but love. Inside the 60 minutes it's a steel cage match. Anything goes in there."
Head coach Mark Kilam, back in the city where he spent 20 seasons on the Stampeders' staff, was having none of the personal storylines.
"It means a lot on a personal level," Kilam said. "But I'm not coming in here with all those storylines. We focus on the strength of the collective in our organization, and that's what it's really about."
Kilam's message for the week is the same word Maas used across the hangar: distractions — manage them.
"The things that win and lose football games are the same things that win and lose football games in a preseason game, a regular season game and a playoff game," Kilam said. "There's just more things surrounding it."
He did make one pitch — to the fans who filled Commonwealth Stadium with 40,000 for the West Final.
"It's an easy drive. Let's pack this place and paint the city green and gold," Kilam said.
Linebacker Nick Anderson, the captain in the middle of the league's top defence, has been living this game for a year. The the 113th Grey Cup logo has been his profile picture since it dropped last November.
"This is a full circle moment," Anderson said. "I really believe in manifestation, because where you put your mind is where your body is going to follow. The goal is hoisting this trophy, which I still have yet to touch."
On facing the league's most outstanding player and its most decorated Canadian receiver, Anderson was blunt.
"We didn't become the number one defence in the CFL by accident," Anderson said. "Credit to them, they have great athletes over there. But we also have great athletes. We're just focusing on our guys being our guys."
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