The roaring Lions facing the struggling Alouettes this evening

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Week 12 of the CFL season kicks off tonight with the BC Lions hosting the Montreal Alouettes. The Leos have momentum on their side with four wins in their last five games. Montreal is trending in the opposite direction with four losses over the last five weeks.

The Lions have their sights set on first in the West Division and catching the streaking Stampeders. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings says if BC wants to catch Calgary, his team will need to string together a bunch of wins and it starts tonight.

“The goal this week is to come out, start fast, put them away early and play a full game. It will be a credit to all the hard work we have put in and we are excited for that challenge. It is something we haven’t done too much of and we are looking forward to this opportunity.

The Alouettes have slipped to the basement of the east standings and Head Coach Jim Popp has seen enough. Quarterback Kevin Glenn has been benched and the football has been turned over to 24-year old Rakeem Cato. The youngster says Montreal needs to take a simple approach to the game.

“We have to take it one game at a time. We have to take it one quarter and one play at a time. I think if we do that, stay poised early, not getting too high, keep a cool head and keep it level headed we will have a great game.”

Cato will have an extremely tough task of handling the Lions staunch defence. The rookie says as long as he stays calm in the pocket he should be able to make the plays he wants to make.

“Those guys play very fast and very physical. They cause turnovers, they make big plays and they play with so much passion and energy, but my job is to come in here and try to slow it down, put up as many points as possible and try and leave with a win.”

It is the second and final regular-season meeting of the year between the two clubs. The Leos crushed the Alouettes 38-18 on August 4th in Quebec.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at BC Place.