Getting after the quarterback is an essential part of the game of football.

And the Stampeders defensive line gets after it like few others.

Charleston Hughes and Micah Johnson sit atop the league tied with eight sacks while Ja’Gared Davis trails by just one with seven on the year.

So how do they keep busting into the backfield and collecting sacks?

“It’s just know-how,” laughed Hughes.

“Just putting in the work, week in and week out,” clarified Johnson. “Coach Mace is doing a great job of identifying what we need to do, what works, offensive lines’ weaknesses and strengths. So, going into every game, we’ve got a good idea of what we need to do and what we need to execute to get it done.”

Last weekend, it was Davis who led the way with a hat trick of sacks against the Saskatchewan Roughriders including a strip sack/fumble recovery in the final minute that helped the Stamps seal the victory.

After having seven sacks in 14 games last season, he’s more than doubled that pace in 2017 as he has recorded seven sacks in seven games.

Davis puts the pressure on Ricky Ray (Photo by David Moll)

The 27-year old from Crockett, Tex., isn’t too worried about the numbers though – he just wants to be on the field helping his team win.

“First and foremost, it’s a blessing to be out there,” said Davis. “After the first game, I had an injury that held me out for six weeks. I had to watch my teammates, my brothers, come out and fight week in and week out without me. I put it upon myself, when I came back, to help my team in any way possible. Just so happens that I’ve played seven games and had seven sacks. I’m just playing catch up.”

While all three men are extremely talented football players, they all agree that they share one specific trait.

They are very competitive.

Especially with each other.

“We always have friendly competition between ourselves,” admitted Davis. “I want to be the season leader in sacks. As you know, I’ve got great guys to follow and great guys to go catch. They set the stakes high and I have to come out and perform each and every week. Charleston is a sackmaster, Micah is sackmaster.”

Hughes and Johnson try to stop Mike Reilly during the Labour Day rematch (Photo by Canadian Press/Amber Bracken)

“I think we’re all big-time competitors,” said Johnson. “I think that makes a difference. If you’re out there, you’re trying to get to the quarterback and you’re trying to make a play and it’s showing. Everyone is hungry.

“Davis is just as good if not better than any D-end in the league. Charleston has been doing it for the better part of a decade. You still have James Vaughters with five sacks. Across the board, the biggest thing is that we’re all competitors.”

And they’re using that internal competition to fuel results on game day.

Those results have Hughes, Johnson, and Davis all in the top four among CFL sack leaders, and that’s by design.

“We’re all fighting to be at the top,” said Hughes. “That was some of our goals – to be the best. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. If everyone is looking at me like I’m the best pass rusher in the league and they know they’re playing with the best pass rusher in the league, they know they’ve got to match my intensity on the field.”

And they’re convinced the sack title will end up with a Stampeder once again in 2017.

“I’m inside working, so I tell them they have to pick it up,” said Johnson. “They better not let me get the sack title. But I feel like the sack title can come from someone on this team. Charleston is great and JG is great, so I hope that the boys keep going.”

Fans see these players running around on the football field, but they might have also noticed that these players enjoy running their mouths.

As teammates, they use friendly trash talk and banter to joke around and have fun throughout the season.

And it’s non-stop.

“Always. We’re always harping on each other,” said Davis. “It’s all friendly competition because at the end of the day we are making each other better. We push each other to be the best that we can be, which in turn is helping out the team as a whole.”

“Oh yeah, there’s trash talk,” Johnson said through a smirk. “All three of us are trash talkers. We all pick at each other, we all mess at each other. Day in, day out, if someone does great, we’ll downplay it. If someone gets beat up on, we’re laughing at each other. That environment, that competitive spirit, makes it more fun.”

Johnson and Hughes run out for player intros (Photo by David Moll)