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October 28, 2016

Milestone watch

Understandably, the focus for the Stamps’ regular-season finale in Montreal on Sunday has been the Red and White’s opportunity to surpass the 1989 Edmonton Eskimos and post the best 18-game record in Canadian Football League history.

While individual accomplishments pale in comparison to team goals, it’s still worth noting that several Calgary players are on the verge of some important milestones and accomplishments.

Jerome Messam: The veteran tailback has already established a career best by rushing for 1,162 yards so far in 2016 and Sunday gives him one final chance to put up a number that will give him his first CFL rushing title.

Messam holds a 270-yard lead over Toronto’s Brandon Whitaker, who has one game remaining, and a 346-yard advantage on Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris, who has two games left to play.

Messam is trying to become the 10th different Stampeders player to win the league rushing title. In addition, he needs 23 receiving yards to reach the 500 mark for the season.

Rene Paredes: Playing in his hometown of Montreal, Paredes needs just three points to hit 200 for the season. It would be the second 200-point season of Paredes’ career and only two other Stamps — Mark McLoughlin and Sandro DeAngelis — have ever accomplished the feat.

Paredes also has 54 field goals on the season, just two shy of the franchise single-season record set by DeAngelis in 2006.

Charleston Hughes: The Saginaw Sackmaster heads into Sunday’s contest with a league-high 15 sacks but he faces a tough challenge as he bids for the second CFL sack title of his career.

For starters, head coach Dave Dickenson has already admitted that Hughes will see fewer snaps than usual on Sunday as the Stamps are dressing an extra defensive end with the return of Frank Beltre to the lineup. Hughes also has two competitors hot on his heels as Toronto’s Shawn Lemon is just one sack behind while Hamilton’s John Chick is two back with two games left to play.

Roy Finch: The first-year Stamp returns to the lineup and has a chance to crack the 1,000-yard mark in both punt returns and kickoff returns. Despite missing the past two games, Finch has already set a single-season franchise record (beating Marvin Coleman’s 16-year old team mark) by racking up 957 punt-return yards and he stands at 967 yards in on kickoff returns.

DaVaris Daniels: He’ll need a big game, but Daniels would reach the 1,000-yard mark in receiving if he picks up 151 yards on Sunday. He also needs one touchdown to hit 10 for the season.

Whether he reaches those milestones or not, those numbers aren’t bad for a guy who made his professional debut on Aug. 19.

Bo Levi Mitchell:  He needs just five completions to break the Stamps’ single-season record which was 416 set by Doug Flutie in 1993.