By Max Campbell
Stampeders.com

After an Oct. 14 trade sent him from Riderville to the Red and White, Jerome Messam ran wild in his first game with the Stamps.

Messam burst onto the Stampeders scene when facing off against Saskatchewan just two weeks after his Roughriders departure and logged 121 yards on 15 carries en route to a convincing 42-19 victory.

“It feels good to get a win,” said the former Most Outstanding Canadian in 2011 as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos. “It’s been a tough year because I’ve been on the other end of the win column a lot. It’s a completely different feeling and I’m just happy right now.”

Coming from a team with two wins to a club fighting for a division title instantly lifted the spirits of the six-year veteran, although Messam still had mixed emotions going up his Week 19 opponent.

“It was weird,” the six-foot-three, 245-lb. tailback expressed. “A lot of those guys, I’ve struggled with them since June. I know what they’re going through and it was just a weird feeling knowing that I had to go out there and beat up on those guys. But we had to lock in and do what we had to do for Calgary Stampeders football.”

The sudden swap from Regina to Calgary came as a definite surprise to Messam, setting the stage for a immediate matchup with the team he had played 29 games for over the past two seasons.

“It’s been a tough week after finding out that I was traded before coming here and meeting all my teammates and getting acclimated to the system,” indicated the Graceland alum while receiving a congratulatory embrace from running backs coach Marc Mueller. “I just feel like there’s a lot more to come for me as I start to grow in the offence and really get the hang of things. The playbook was really minimal this week for me, so I feel like it’s going to open up a little bit more as I have more time here.”

No. 33 was undoubtedly appreciative of the warm reception from Stamps fans in attendance on Saturday afternoon. The steady support made a definite impact in the mind of Messam, especially considering his well-documented success against the Stamps since entering the league.

“The fans were great,” the Brampton, Ont., product declared. “I’ve done a lot of damage to the Stampeders (on the field) in the past, so I didn’t know if the fans were going to be too welcoming. But they were awesome.”