Micah Awe is a player that wants to lead by example, and that’s exactly what he did in his first regular-season start with the Stampeders during Thursday’s season-opener.

“It’s kind of weird, it feels like I was just a rookie yesterday,” Awe said. “We’re in a special-teams meeting and coach (Mark) Kilam is showing film of me in 2017 in B.C. and I’m on the other side.

“It’s cool though. When I come to a team, I don’t try to go out of my way to be a leader, I just try to be the best I can be. The guys do look to me because they’ve seen my film and really it’s all about what you do on the field.”

Awe is the CFL leader in tackles after Week 1, registering 12 in the Stampeders loss to the Lions at McMahon Stadium.

“I had a lot of fun,” he said. “Fun in football is not the same as fun in regular life. Fun in football is dominating the other team and running around and making plays. Being able to run to the ball last week brought me back to my high-school days, back to my Texas Tech days where we’re running 90 plays but hey, I’m out there trying to do my best so it was a lot of fun.”

As most CFL fans know the season is a long one, Awe knows that as well and is aware the Stampeders can’t get down after one loss.

“I’ve been through six seasons now, I’ve had losing seasons and winning seasons,” he said. “I’ve had seasons where we started 0-6 and went to the playoffs. So regardless of whatever happens, the only thing you can control is what you can control. At the end of the day you do your best to get your team a win but you can control what you do. You make the tackle, you make the interception, you make a play and then everything else is just try to be the best teammate you can.

The Stamps play in Ottawa Thursday night looking to pick up their first win of the season. Awe says an early season road-trip can really bring the group together.

“I think pro football road trips are one of the most fun things ever,” he said. “You go to dinner together and stuff like that and it does bring the team together. To go in a hostile environment, it’s just you … no one is cheering for you no one is looking out for you it’s just your teammates and that brings you together for sure.”