The Bicep Baker may have to be a recurring character in my life. #cfb This week on Border Ballers, my Canadian college football segment on Gridiron Nation: 🦁 Shakespeare Louis + Evan Aubrey, SLU 🍊 Antoine Deslauriers, Syracuse LB 🔴 Wesley Bailey, Louisville DL

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Queen's, SMU defences win titles 🏈 Antwan Raymond: Rutgers workhorse 🏈 Sask gets comeback revenge vs Regina 🏈 Sacks for Mesidor, Gatkuoth, Bailey 🏈 Montreal conquers Laval Tap below to read + subscribe to your favourite Canadian college football newsletter

NEW Pressure Package 🇨🇦 CFB newsletter 🏈 StFX, Regina FGs clinch title berths 🏈 Darius Bell keeps ECU pocket clean 🏈 Faulds, Snyder to meet again in Yates 🏈 Wesley Bailey shines again for Louisville 🏈 Laval, Montreal back (again) Tap below to read & subscribe

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Guelph, UBC win upsets 🏈 Wesley Bailey, Rene Konga drop BC 🏈 SMU gets over StFX hump 🏈 Antwan Raymond gets to 11 TDs 🏈 Concordia over McGill in run-heavy W Tap below to read + subscribe to your favourite Canadian college football newsletter

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Laurier dismantles Western 🏈 Buffalo's Junior Poyser humbles UMass 🏈 Laval evens series with Montreal 🏈 Nick Cenacle strikes at Colorado State 🏈 StFX rebounds in Bishop's blowout Tap to read + subscribe to your favourite Canadian college football newsletter

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🦃 Saint Mary's THANKFUL for Mount A 🏈 Bryce Butler, Rutgers' Canadians reunite 🏈 Ethan Dolby breaks an RB U record 🏈 Brendon Barrow breaks out at RIU 🏈 Ottawa keeps losing 1-score games Tap below to read + subscribe

Canadian WR Nate DeMontagnac caught this DIVING 20-yard score against Northern Iowa for his 1st TD of the season and North Dakota’s 1st road W on Saturday. “It’s just about winning now,” the Mississauga native told reporters after the game. 🎥 @ericmoon.bsky.social

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Carleton snaps Ottawa's Panda streak 🏈 Nuer Gatkuoth gets in the backfield 🏈 Saskatchewan, Regina hold on 🏈 Akheem Mesidor scary at Florida State 🏈 McGill almost gets Montreal again Tap below to read + subscribe

Catch me on TSN’s college football show, Gridiron Nation, today at 2:30pm ET talking about 2 Canadians dominating the trenches down south as part of my new show segment, Border Ballers: ⚫️ Melvin Siani, Wake Forest OL 🔴 Rene Konga, Louisville DL 📸 Minxing (Mike) Liu, Louisville Cardinals

Canadian Antwan Raymond is the only D1 RB to have scored at least 2 TDs in 4 consecutive games this season. The Rutgers sophomore nearly had another on this play against Minnesota, but check out the contact balance from the Montreal product. 🎥 @btn.com via Rutgers On3

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Laurier, Western last undefeateds 🏈 Konga + Bailey's Louisville rolling 🏈 Can Carleton snap Ottawa's Panda streak? 🏈 Cruji + Stanley stout in Maine W 🏈 Alberta grabs 1st dub Tap to read & subscribe: open.substack.com/pub/pressure...

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 McGill upsets Montreal 🏈 Jesse Palmer remembers his French side 🏈 How do CFL changes impact U Sports? 🏈 Antoine Deslauriers' Syracuse mobs Clemson 🏈 Mesidor + Bain = Florida nightmare TAP TO READ & SUBSCRIBE: open.substack.com/pub/pressure...

Canadian Dylan Djeté has been a valuable add to Alabama State’s receiving corps since transferring. The WR from Levis, Que., has a TD in 3 straight Hornets games to start the college football season. He plays former CFL QB and current co-OC Henry Burris’ Florida A&M next. 🎥 Alabama State Hornets

Weapon X had to wait his turn at Manitoba, but it looks like it paid off. Veteran WR Nathan Udoh hauled in his 1st U Sports TD and exploded for 158 receiving yards on a record-tying 12 catches in the Bisons’ Saturday comeback over Saskatchewan. 🎥 @canadawest.bsky.social via Manitoba Bisons/X

Queen’s DB John Corscadden had a day vs UofT this weekend, sniping 3 INTs from the U Sports passing yards leader. The New Brunswick native is the 1st Gael to record a hat trick of picks (hat pick? pick trick?) in 1 game in over 15 years. 📸 Seyran Mammadov/Queen’s Gaels

Canadian DB Jett Elad blocked a punt — Kaj Sanders recovered for a TD — in Rutgers’ W over Mike Vick’s Norfolk State on Saturday. Mississauga’s own also caught his 1st interception of the college football season in the blowout. 🎥 @btn.com via @b1gfootball.bsky.social

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Montreal tops Laval in RSEQ 🏈 Jett Elad, Antwan Raymond lift Rutgers 🏈 Manitoba comes back on Saskatchewan 🏈 Dylan Djete scores in 3rd straight game 🏈 Queen's is a Yates Cup contender TAP TO READ & SUBSCRIBE: open.substack.com/pub/pressure...

Almost 10 years ago, Steve Bolo Mboumoua crossed the Atlantic from Cameroon to Quebec. He showed up to his first-ever practice in shin guards, having never seen this kind of football. (h/t Radio-Canada Sports) On Saturday, he recorded his first 3 tackles for Alabama. 📸 Alabama Crimson Tide

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Antoine Deslauriers seals for Syracuse 🏈 York drops UofT in OT 🏈 Rutgers' 5 Canadians contribute to W 🏈 Hardy Cup still runs through Sask 🏈 Wesley Bailey, Rene Konga topple JMU TAP TO READ & SUBSCRIBE: open.substack.com/pub/pressure...

Rutgers’ first 2 sacks of the college football season were courtesy of Canadians Dariel Djabome and Djibril Abdou Rahman. The pair from the Montreal area got in the QB’s face within 2 plays of each other in Saturday’s W over Miami OH. 📸 Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The fun police ruled this an incomplete pass on Saturday, but let’s pretend it wasn’t: Canadian Nuer Gatkuoth leverages his pterodactyl wingspan with a 1-arm stab & rip on the LT, strip-sacks the QB in 2 secs AND recovers the fumble for Wake Forest — if only it counted. 🎥 @wakeforest.bsky.social

Like his home country in WWI, Canadian Akheem Mesidor dominated the trenches for Miami in Week 1 of college football. Against Notre Dame’s top-ranked OL, Ottawa’s own won 37.5% of his pass rush reps — the best among Power Four DLs with 20+ pass rush snaps in Week 1 (via PFF). 📸 Miami Hurricanes

Canadian OLs Albert Reese IV and Logan Taylor didn’t allow a single QB pressure in their respective starts to the college football season (via PFF). Reese’s Mississippi State and Taylor’s Boston College enter Week 2 at 1–0. 📸 Mississippi State Bulldogs

Canadian RB Antwan Raymond is making an early case for the Cornish Trophy. The Montrealer kicked off his Rutgers CFB season ranking Top-5 in yards after contact (68), missed tackles forced (6) and 10+ yard carries (3) among Big Ten RBs (via PFF). 🎥 Rutgers Scarlet Knights

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Akheem Mesidor magical for Miami 🏈 Waterloo, Regina survive OT 🏈 No sophomore slump for Antwan Raymond 🏈 StFX earns 1st U Sports shutout 🏈 Reese IV, Siani allow 0 sacks in wins TAP TO READ: open.substack.com/pub/pressure...

NEW Pressure Package 🍁 CFB newsletter 🏈 Western-Queen's ends in controversy 🏈 Cenacle's Hawai'i upsets Stanford 🏈 UofT, York win Week 1 in U Sports 🏈 Wither settles in at Laurier 🏈 More in Week 2! Tap to read & subscribe: open.substack.com/pub/pressure...

With Western’s 4OT Saturday W over Queen’s, if the Gaels don’t beat the Mustangs in the OUA playoffs, Western will go 5,000 days without losing to its rival (Sept. 15, 2012 – May 25, 2026). I started high school in Fall 2012. Where were you? 📸 Callista Laffrenier x @westernu.ca

Canadian Nick Cenacle's U of Hawai’i kicks off its season Saturday. Montreal's own is a Top-2 returning Mountain West WR in 4+ stats from the '24 regular season (via PFF): 🟢 284 YAC (1st) 🟢 6 TD (T2nd) 🟢 13 missed tackles forced (2nd) 🟢 38 1st downs (T2nd) 📸 Hawaii Football

Since Canadian OL Matthew Bergeron was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2023, the Dirty Birds have been Top-12 in fewest sacks allowed and most rush yards per game in the Montreal product’s first 2 NFL seasons. *Mighty Machines theme starts playing* 🚜

Following Week 10, Hamilton Tiger-Cats kicker & my former @westernu.ca teammate Marc Liegghio is officially etched in @cfl.ca record books with 33 consecutive field goals — most in Ticats history & 4th in league history. The nickname still sticks, Leggz! 📸 @ticats.bsky.social

Canadian Trae Tomlinson possesses first-class explosiveness to fly downhill with closing speed and make a play. That’s why the former Winnipeg track star allowed the fewest yards after catch (26) among all D1 CBs who played 300+ coverage snaps in 2024. 🎥 Trae Tomlinson/YouTube

On deep throws, Canadian Joshua Palmer was 3rd in the AFC West in receiving yards (250) and first downs (8) last season (via PFF). Josh Allen likes his new Brampton-born receiver: "[Palmer's] catch radius is one of the best I've ever been around." (H/T Ajay Cybulski) 🎥 @alexbrasky.bsky.social

Canadian WR Kevin Mital's 188 yards after catch currently ranks 2nd in the @cfl.ca. The Laval alum showed off his ball-carrier vision — supported by the big guys up front — in this 30-yard play from behind the line of scrimmage against Hamilton a couple weeks back. 🎥 @torontoargos.bsky.social

Canadian Ty Benefield had 25 stops in 2024, the most among 2027 draft class safeties in the G5 (via PFF). The Vancouver native's offseason WR reps signal he could bring his physicality to Boise State's offence — trucking, blocking and bullying fellow DBs. 📸 @boisestatefb.bsky.social

Built like Banff. 🏔️ Gabriel Osenda, from Airdrie, Alberta, looks like the mountains he grew up around, measuring 6'8" 320 lbs with a 2-car garage wingspan. The Canadian blue-chip OL is entering his SR year of HS in Tennessee and has committed to U of Tennessee. 📸 Gabriel Osenda

Another Canadian has found a new home for the 2025 college football season. Coming off an HBCU national title with Jackson State, Ottawa native Success Chikezie has transferred to New Haven. The OL joins German K/P Theo Hardt as the 2 international Chargers.

Canadian Chase Brown is a dual-threat in the Cincinnati Bengals backfield. London's own was a Top-5 AFC RB in multiple receiving stats in the 2024 regular season (via PFF): 🐯 6 contested catches (1st) 🐯 4 TDs (2nd) 🐯 23 first downs (2nd) 🐯 360 yards (4th) 🐯 16 missed tackles forced (T4th) 🎥 NFL/X

❌ Megatron ❌ Magic ✅ Moose Canadian Damien Alford plays even bigger than his listed 6'6" height. Doctor Octopus wouldn't have the range to cover the Montreal product — and towering land mammal. 🎥 @cfl.ca x @tsnofficial.bsky.social

Canadian Nuer Gatkuoth's 2024 season was shortened due to injury, but in his 2023 RS freshman season at Colorado State, Edmonton's own tied for 9th in pressures (29) among Mountain West edge rushers (via PFF). Now he brings the chaos to Wake Forest for 2025. 📸 Colorado State Rams

If you're reading this, get back in the squat rack. Canadian Chuba Hubbard had the NFL's 3rd-best average yards after contact (3.46) among all RBs with 200+ carries in the 2024 regular season (via PFF). Legs feed the wolf. 🎥 @ihartitz.bsky.social

U of Alberta alum and 2023 Canada West 🏈 player of the year Matthew Peterson is currently 5th in the CFL for rushing yards (245) and T3rd in 10+ yard carries (7). The Winnipeg Blue Bomber had big shoes to fill when reigning MOP Brady Oliveira was out with an injury. 🎥 @cfl.ca

Love Island? Canadian Trae Tomlinson puts more "players" on an island than any TV producer. 🏝️ No D1 CB with 250+ coverage snaps had more snaps per target (12) than Winnipeg's own in 2024; his 24.9 snaps per reception and 26 yards after catch were both 2nd (via PFF). 📸 Louisiana Ragin Cajuns

Hurricane Huda couldn't stop this cat. Canadian Rohan Jones had more TDs per catch than any Power 4 TE in 2024 (minimum 5 TDs), making the Montrealer one of the most efficient TEs entering the SEC this year (via PFF). 🔴 9 TDs 🔴 30 catches 🔴 157.7 passer rtg when targeted 🎥 Montana State Bobcats

The EA Sports College Football 26 cover, but make it ... 🍁 Canadian 🍁

Canadian RB Fabrice Mukendi got more involved in Bryant U's air attack in 2024, improving from 186 receiving yards (2021–23 combined) to 220 in his SR season, and was a Top-40 D1 RB in yards after catch (via PFF). 🐶 284 YAC 🐶 10.1 YAC/catch 📸 Bryant University

Football Canada revealed its women's national flag football roster on Friday. Among the potential future Olympians are collegiate multi-sport athletes like Caroline Moquin-Joubert — the Concordia women's hockey captain and 2x 🏒 national champ. 🎥 Madison Oakes/Concordia Women's Hockey

Canadian OL Melvin Siani heads to Wake Forest after a stout 2nd year at Temple. Among AAC OTs with 350+ pass block snaps in 2024, Hamilton's own was Top 5 in least pressures allowed (11) on true pass sets (via PFF). 🛡️ 11 PR 🛡️ 1 sack 🛡️ 1 hit 🛡️ 9 hurries 📸 @wakeforest.bsky.social via Melvin Siani/X

As it stands, @ulaval.ca and @umontreal.ca — winners of the last 3 Vanier Cups — have the most U Sports football alums on @cfl.ca teams to start the 2025 season, having 12 each. (H/T U Sports) 📸 @richcoffey.bsky.social

Among 2026 draft class LBs in the Power 4, Canadian Dariel Djabome was Top 5 for pressures, stops and forced fumbles in the Quebec product's junior season at Rutgers in 2024 (via PFF). 🔴 21 pressures 🔴 46 stops 🔴 2 FF 🎥 @btn.com via Rutgers Rivals/X

Football Canada named Patrick Bourgon as offensive assistant of the men's national flag football team on Tuesday morning. Bourgon, a McGill University football alum, was on national head coach Paul LaPolice's staff when they coached the @ottawaredblacks.com together from 2020–22. 📸 Patrick Bourgon