The Edmonton Eskimos are looking for an early season leg up in the CFL's West Division when they visit a familiar, and frustrated, foe tonight in Vancouver.
An Edmonton win over the B.C. Lions would clinch the season series for the green and gold, a potentially important playoff tiebreaker.
"You know there's a lot to play for this early in the season which doesn't happen very often," said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas.
His team will have to overcome former quarterback Mike Reilly, who's endured a mixed start with his new team.
"I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I mean, if it were easy it wouldn't be worth it," said the Lions' Reilly.
While he's thrown for more yards than all but one other quarterback so far this season, Reilly has also struggled with consistency, throwing four interceptions along with five touchdowns in four games.
The Lions are still adjusting to their first-year head coach DeVone Claybrooks, winning just once in four tries including a 39-23 defeat in Edmonton last month that saw Reilly get sacked seven times.
"I never expected it was going to be a walk in the park, you know but it's a fight. It's something you got to deal with every single day, you can't take a day off," said Reilly.
The Lions and Eskimos kick-off at 8 p.m. MDT.
The teams meet once more this season, in Edmonton on Oct. 12.
