Fresh off a magical Grey Cup season, Wally Buono — a little, no actually a lot, less grey than today — was the redoubtable man at the helm down at McMahon Stadium back then.

Doug Flutie was the QB, John Hufnagel the OC. That edition of the Calgary Stampeders, circa 1993, was populated by Big Tunas and Sponges and Pee Wees and A.J.s.

And, off on the sidelines, a new rider aboard the Touchdown Horse that Flutie, Dave Sapunjis, Allen Pitts,  tailback Keyvan Jenkins and the rest of that laser-light-show offence kept working overtime.

Why, it seems like only yesterday . . .

“It hasn’t,’’ admits Karyn Drake, over two decades removed from her first gallop down the sidelines at McMahon, “really hit me yet. I guess it will (Friday).

“I can’t believe I’ve been there that long. I’ve enjoyed it so much. A wonderful experience.

“I’m feeling a whole bunch of emotions right now.

“Sad to pass the reins off but excited to see my daughter take over for me. Kind of a neat tradition to carry on.”

Karyn Drake and Quick Six visit fans during a game in 2010 (Photo by David Moll)

Usually succession plans aren’t nearly this tidy. But Friday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Karyn Drake takes her last ride for the Stamps.

The oldest of her three daughters, 19-year-old Chelsea, a third-year broadcast journalism student at Mount Royal, takes over for her mom abroad the Touchdown Horse that celebrates every Stampeder trip into the end zone.

For over two decades, Drake was like a Calgary version of the Pony Express — Neither rain nor sleet nor hail (nor, often, snow, as Halloween came and went) — could keep her from her appointed duty.

Over all the years, regular-season, post-season, Grey Cup games, she missed only six games — all precautionary, during her three pregnancies. In other words, a model employee.

In a way, the whole thing now seems fated. The former Stampede Queen and Miss Calgary grew up loving football. Would sit in the pews with her dad at McMahon.

“To be honest, I’d watch the horse as much as the game,’’ she confesses with amusement. “I thought that’d be such a cool job.

“At the time I was hired, I was riding with the Calgary Stampede Ranch Girls and Karen Franco from the Stampeders called me and told me the position was available and asked me if I’d like the job.

“And I’m like … ‘Well, Yeah. Who wouldn’t?’ ”

Details of that first regular-season ride back in 1993 —  a 54-34 wild-west shootout win over the Blue Bombers — has been lost in the mists of time.

“I honestly don’t remember much about it,’’ laughs Drake, “except how exciting it all was, the crowd and everything, and that I was on a horse that just wasn’t fit for it. I knew right then and there I wouldn’t be riding mares, I’d be riding geldings, for however long this lasted.”

Over the course of her involvement with the organization, the Stamps have reached eight Grey Cup games, winning four.

Karyn Drake and Quick Six after the Samps’ 2014 Grey Cup championship (Photo by David Moll)

“The Calgary Stampeders have been so amazing to work for,” she says. “Actually, it’s hasn’t really been work. For me, anyway. Football and riding, that’s an unbeatable combination.

“Most of the memories have been great. The game that my horse collapsed was pretty scary, though. We got him up and everything seemed to be okay. We got him home and he passed away a few months later.”

Friday, Karyn Drake takes the last ride, handing the reins — quite literally — to daughter Chelsea.

Forgive the lady for being more than the slightest bit nostalgic, reflecting back on the horses — Albi, Ricky, Blue, Toby — she’s partnered, the people she’s met, the touchstone moments that electrified a city.

“Honestly,’’ Karyn Drake confesses, “when I first started, I thought I’d be there for, oh, maybe a couple of years. You never think in terms of decades. Now, here we are 24 years later …

“It’s been wonderful.

“But nothing lasts forever.

“And to have Chelsea there to take over for me . . . the way it’s all fallen together has been pretty sweet. I’ll be down there now, our roles reversed, handing her the Stampeder flag, cheering her on.

“I don’t know how my 18-year-old twins feel about it, but maybe one of them can take over whenever Chelsea decides to leave.

“Wouldn’t that be great? For sure, it’s kind of a bittersweet moment.

“But it’s been a wonderful ride.”

Hundreds and hundreds of them, as a matter of fact.

Karyn Drake and Quick Six in the Rocky Mountains (Photo by Johany Jutras)