Stampeders QB coach Ryan Dinwiddie called a quick audible after pivot Montell Cozart hit the open market.

When the 23-year old signal caller became available, Dinwiddie reached out to express his team’s interest.

“When the BC Lions finally took me off of their negotiation list, coach Dinwiddie called me and told me that they were interested in bringing me up this week and we made it happen.”

“It’s exciting and I’m just ready to get out there and have fun again.”

Cozart began his college career at Kansas and played four seasons with the Jayhawks before being granted a medical redshirt season and transferring to Boise State.

With the Broncos, Cozart helped lead the team to a division championship and a win in the Las Vegas Bowl, where they beat Oregon 38-28.

He’s no stranger to winning.

And neither is his new team.

“When they reached out to me, I started to do some research on the team,” explained Cozart. “I was like, ‘wow, they’re 7-0, they’re really good.’

“I was talking to coach Dinwiddie, he’s a Boise guy himself, and he was able to tell me that the team is looking really good, but there’s some strides that we can still make. Our team could keep getting better.”

With known interest from the CFL, Cozart had been keeping tabs on the league, even tuning in for Johnny Manziel’s debut with the Montreal Alouettes two weeks ago.

He’s been able to begin picking up the differences between the Canadian and American rules.

“When I was going through the process, I started to gain a better understanding of the whole Canadian game and the CFL rules that came with it,” Cozart said. “I just need to keep studying, it’s still new and foreign to me but I’ll work and get better. The CFL, it’s a great game. It’s a passing league and that’s good for quarterbacks. So I’m really looking forward to the rest of this season.”

The 6-foot-1, 205-lb. gunslinger suited up in Red and White for the first time at practice on Tuesday.

Calgary’s new third-string quarterback – due to the release of Larry Brihm – spent the majority of the time trying to find his bearings and process as much information as he could.

“(My head is spinning) a little bit,” admitted Cozart. “But at the end of the day, it’s still football. Terminology and learning how they’re doing it and how they’re operating is probably the biggest part that has my head spinning.”

“Bo Levi (Mitchell) and Nick (Arbuckle) are both great guys to learn from and I’ve been working with those guys since I’ve gotten here, so they’re making it easy.

“It was a great day to get out here and actually get on the field and see those X’s and O’s that I’ve been learning about in the classroom. It feels good to be playing football again.”