It’s CFL Week in Regina, which means that dozens of the league’s best players will be in town for activities ranging from photo shoots to a string of media interviews.

Some players would be lukewarm to that sort of thing, but when Stampeders linebacker Alex Singleton heard about the event, his immediate reaction was: “Where do I sign up?”

The enthusiasm stems partly from the fact the ever-smiling Singleton has a knack for looking at the sunny side of life. It’s also because the trip to Saskatchewan will allow him to keep a close eye on his younger brother Matt, a prospect who will try to impress CFL teams at the combine that will be held Friday and Saturday.

“CFL Week is exciting,” Alex says with his typical cheeriness, “and I’m excited for what my brother’s going to do.”

The younger Singleton, a linebacker at Black Hills State, a Division II school in Spearfish, S.D., is trying to follow Alex’s path to the CFL. The Thousand Oaks, Calif., native became a Canadian citizen nine months ago – he qualified for that status because the brothers’ mother Kim Singleton is a Canuck – and now he’s hoping his performance at the combine will result in him hearing his name called at the May 7 draft.

Matt Singleton playing for Black Hills State (Photo: BHSU Sports Information)

“Alex’s success was definitely a part of making me want to go up there and try it,” says Matt. “Before he played up there, I honestly didn’t know very much about the Canadian league. But being able to play football for a career has been a dream of both of ours’ since we were seven years old.”

The brothers, born just 20 months apart, are very close.

“We shared a room until I left for college,” says Alex. “We played football in our room together since we were four. He’s one of my best friends. I talk to him about everything. I’m just excited for him.”

Alex has done his best to help prepare his brother by sharing the knowledge gathered during his first season in the CFL.

“You give him every tip you can,” he says. “To have someone on your side and be able to tell you what’s going to go on. Because it’s something that not a lot of people get to do, so there’s not a lot of people who can tell you want to expect.”

Matt already got a crash course on the CFL by keeping tabs on Alex’s excellent rookie campaign with the Stamps, which saw the older sibling earn the starting middle linebacker’s job after starting the season on special teams.

“Over the summer, before our season started, I was able to watch every one of his games,” says Matt.  “Even in the fall, I still followed him. I would be on the road and my game would finish when his was starting, so I’d be sitting at the back of the bus with my headphones on watching his game on my ESPN app. So I got around to watching every game. Not all of them were exactly live.”

In November, Matt made the trip to Calgary to watch the Stamps beat the BC Lions in the Western Final.

“That was the first game I was able to see live, which was pretty awesome,” he says.

Stoked to head up to Canada next week and see @alexsingleton43 play live for the first time in a couple years👍🏼

— Matt Singleton (@MattSingleton12) November 14, 2016

Matt can picture himself playing on the bigger Canadian field.

“I feel like I’d be a pretty good fit because of the couple of differences that there are,” he says. “Especially the three downs instead of four. Special teams is a bigger aspect of the game and I feel special teams is what’s going to allow me to make it on a roster.”

Alex agrees, and he points to former Stamp Cam Ontko, now a member of the BC Lions, as proof Matt can make the cut.

“That’s my CFL comparison for him,” explains Alex, “especially to start out. They’re both shorter, stockier dudes who are going to go out there and bang heads and make plays on special teams. Those are the kinds of guys you want in the league. Cam had a shot at the NFL and he got all the (feedback) about being undersized. Then he came up here and there’s no stopping him.”

While Alex was on the CFL radar even before earning Canadian citizenship and was the Stamps’ first-round pick in the 2016 draft, Matt faces longer odds. Then again, he’s no stranger to major challenges. Take his two years with the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets, for example, after transferring from Ventura College.

“It was a pretty crazy experience,” he says. “My junior year, we went 0-11. It was a rough year. It wasn’t a big fanbase and we didn’t have a lot of support.”

That led to an off-season of introspection and some hard questions.

Matt Singleton makes a tackle (Photo: BHSU Sports Information)

“We asked ourselves ‘Are we satisfied with this or are we going to be the team that changes the culture of this program and school?’ ” he recounts. “This past season, we ended up 7-4 and we accomplished a bunch of milestones for our program – first team to start 3-0, first team to beat a ranked opponent, first team to have a winning season. Our program is definitely on the rise now. It was great to be a part of that and I’m excited to continue to watch it to grow in the future.”

“It was super cool to see them turn around the program,” says Alex. “To see them go from 0-11 to 7-4, that’s crazy. That doesn’t just happen. It was cool to watch him do what he’s been doing and hopefully I’ll get to see him do it an even higher level.”

Big brother will be watching nervously from the sideline at this weekend’s combine. He’ll certainly have more butterflies than when he had his own auditions for pro teams.

“It’s harder when I’m watching him,” says Alex. “It’s just like when I’m playing, I don’t get nervous because I know what I’m going to do and I can control (what happens). But when I’m watching him, I’m not going to know. I’m going to sit there with my stopwatch and go, ‘C’mon, c’mon.’ I’m just going to help him as much as I can and then let him run.”

And what if that dash brings Matt to Calgary?

“It would be extremely beneficial to play with Alex because we both push each other in many different aspects,” Matt replies. “He could help me grow and I think he would tell you that still to this day, I’m one of his biggest critics. I’ll tell him what I think he’s lacking and he’ll do the same for me.”

“If we get to be teammates again,” says Alex, “that’s a good thing. I’d love to have him out here and get a roommate. But if not and he goes to another team, there’s definitely going to be one game circled on the schedule.

“Either way, he’s going to excel at whatever he does. He’s an awesome person outside of being my brother and the sky’s the limit for him, on and off the field.”