The Jon Cornish Trophy committee has unveiled the five finalists to be named the top Canadian talent in NCAA football, led by Indiana University quarterback Kurtis Rourke.
The Oakville, Ont. native transferred from Ohio in 2024, guiding the Hoosiers to their best season in decades. He completed 70.4 percent of his passes for 2,827 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only four interceptions across 11 starts, as Indiana went 11-1 and qualified for the College Football Playoff. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection while finishing ninth in Heisman voting and becoming a finalist for the Manning Award as the top QB in college football.
Rourke will look to join his older brother, Nathan, as a Cornish Award winner, as the current B.C. Lions pivot won the award twice for Ohio University in 2017 and 2018. Other past winners include NFL running backs Chuba Hubbard (2019) and Chase Brown (2022), and wide receiver John Metchie III (2020, 2021).
Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor, the 2023 Cornish Award winner, is once again a finalist. He and Rourke are joined in contention by Boise State safety Ty Benefielf, Rutgers linebacker Dariel Djabome, and UNLV safety Jett Elad.
Ayomanor tallied 63 receptions for 831 yards and six touchdowns in 2024. The redshirt sophomore from Medicine Hat, Alta. was one of the few bright spots for a bad Cardinals team and could look to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft in the coming weeks.
Benefield was a cornerstone of Boise State’s resurgent defence in 2024, as the Broncos won the Mountain West and earned a berth in the College Football Playoff. The true sophomore from Vancouver, B.C. logged 73 tackles, five tackles for loss, five pass breakups, two interceptions, and a forced fumble en route to an honourable mention All-Mountain West selection.
Djabome stepped into a starting role for Rutgers in 2024 and registered 102 tackles — becoming the first Canadian to cross the century mark in the FCS since Amen Ogbongbemiga in 2019. The native of Longueuil, Que. added seven tackles for loss, three sacks, and two forced fumbles to be named third-team All-Big Ten
Elad was named a finalist for the second straight season after collecting 85 tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks, seven pass breakups, one interception and a forced fumble in 14 games. The senior from Mississauga, Ont. was named an honourable mention All-Mountain West honouree.
In addition to the five finalists, four other players were named as honourable mentions: North Texas linebacker Jaylen Smith, Montana receiver Keelan White, Montana State tight end Rohan Jones, and Hawai’i receiver Nick Cenacle.
The winner of the 2024 Jon Cornish Trophy will be announced Monday, December 23 at 1:00 p.m. EST on TSN’s Krown Gridiron Nation’s YouTube channel.
