The defending champion Montreal Alouettes will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a Grey Cup rematch to kick off the 2024 Canadian Football League regular season on Thursday night.
The Alouettes scored the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left in a 28-24 victory in the 110th Grey Cup last November in Hamilton, Ontario. Game MVP Cody Fajardo threw a 19-yard pass to Tyson Philpot to lift Montreal to its first title since 2010.
It was the fourth straight Grey Cup appearance and second straight loss in the title game for the Blue Bombers, who went 14-4 during the 2023 regular season and swept both meetings with the Alouettes (11-7).
The underdog status successfully inspired the Alouettes through the playoffs last season, but it no longer applies to the reigning champs.
“It’s like you go from the hunters to the hunted,” Fajardo said, per TSN. “Last year it was easy to draw motivation from the people who said we were going to be ninth.
“Now there’s people that believe in us … and we got to find the secret sauce that works for us this year.”
Montreal coach Jason Maas said the secret is not to focus on trying to repeat.
“You have to move on. It’s a new team,” Maas said. “It’s a 2024 version of the Montreal Alouettes.”
Meanwhile, the 2024 version of the Blue Bombers is still loaded with talent, particularly on an offense fueled by veteran quarterback Zach Collaros, running back Brady Oliveira — last season’s Most Outstanding Canadian — and wideout Dalton Schoen.
“We’re built the right way here and those guys wouldn’t be here if they weren’t team-first guys,” Collaros told the CBC. “So whomever it might be game by game who has the most catches or the most carries and touchdowns and all those things, I truly don’t think it matters to them. It’s all about the win.”
Montreal will be without seven players for the opener, including wide receivers Reggie White Jr. (ribs) and Shedler Fervius (hip) and defensive backs Wesley Sutton (back) and Arthur Hamlin (ankle).
Winnipeg ruled out defensive lineman TyJuan Garbutt (ankle) and defensive back Jake Kelly (elbow).
