Montreal Alouettes’ HC Jason Maas sends message to players with different Grey Cup process: ‘Eff you’

Photo: Vincent Ethier/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

There’s no week quite like Grey Cup week, but Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas is taking a hard line with anyone choosing to approach it that way.

“It’s not a different week for us. We’re not going to do a whole bunch of different things. In fact, we’ve got a saying at the beginning of the year: ‘If you do anything different during Grey Cup week, eff you, because you’re doing it wrong,'” he said.

“We want you to do exactly what you’ve done all year. Just understand that this week there’s a lot more eyes on you and a lot more expectation on you, and there’s probably going to be more excitement. But our work week and our workload for our players should be the exact same. Don’t want it any more than that because what they’ve done so far has gotten us here.”

The Alouettes arrived in Calgary on Tuesday after punching their ticket to their Grey Cup with a 33-23 victory over Winnipeg. It marked the team’s third trip to the CFL title game in four seasons, though the results have been mixed.

Montreal pulled off a stunning upset of the Blue Bombers in 2023, prevailing 28-24 thanks to a last-second touchdown pass from Cody Fajardo to Tyson Philpot. In 2025, they came up short against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, losing 25-17.

Ahead of the rubber match with the Edmonton Elks, Philpot admits he was one of those guilty of treating the week differently last year. He won’t make the same mistake again.

“Personally, there’s some things that I’m gonna change this year that I did last year. I made a promise to myself when we lost that game last year that I wasn’t gonna allow myself to get here and make sure I didn’t do everything to put myself in the best position to win,” he said.

“(I took) some family time, stuff that I wouldn’t normally do in my normal football week. Not to say that impacted the way the game went last year. Obviously, you look at ’23 when you won, and then you look at ’25 when you lost, and look at some things. That’s all me trying to help myself ensure that this team wins a Grey Cup.”

Quarterback Davis Alexander also admitted to being caught off-guard by the size of the Grey Cup spotlight in his first season as the starting quarterback, a fact that was only intensified by his uncertain status due to a hamstring injury.

“Last year I was up here, I had as many questions as you guys did whether I was going to play, or I knew I was going to play, but I didn’t know what percentage I was at, especially walking off the plane,” he said.

“In the first year being in the Grey Cup, obviously, I wasn’t the starting quarterback, so I didn’t realize how much media you have. That’s not an excuse. It’s part of the process. But this year, you’re a little bit more prepared for it, and you can plan out your stuff and whatever you’ve got to do.”

Maas understands that some elements of the upcoming week will be unavoidably different. The microphones get more numerous this time of year, the questions get harder, and the personal expectations increase. With families in town for the biggest game of the year, there are travel logistics to work out and tickets to be distributed.

“We gave them one day to figure out their families getting here, tickets, all that stuff. We said there is nothing more important in their lives this week than getting the ninth Grey Cup for this organization,” Maas said. “That’s all that needs to be on our minds, our body and soul all week. Stick together and stay connected. When we practice and we meet, be where your feet are, stay connected that way, and go out and compete like hell in practice. The game takes care of itself. It wasn’t anything more than that.”

Fortunately for Philpot, who was felled by family responsibilities in 2025, he has an ace up his sleeve. All of his former University of Calgary teammates coming to support him have been instructed to contact his identical twin brother, Stampeders receiver Jalen Philpot.

“I’ve kind of left Jalen in charge of that.  I’ve set phones off; if you need to get in contact with somebody for tickets, go through Jalen,” he said. “He’ll have the guys all wearing Montreal Alouettes jerseys and ready to go.”

Even though Maas expects his team to have already taken care of business, he doesn’t believe a focused approach to Grey Cup week is mutually exclusive with fun.

“As much as you want to make it a normal week, it’s not,” Maas said. “I want our players to be excited about this week. They’ve earned the right to be here. It’s not going to be a normal week. We’re going to try to make that as much as possible. They need to enjoy themselves, but be focused on the task.”

The Montreal Alouettes (15-4) and Edmonton Elks (14-5) will meet in the 113th Grey Cup at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Sunday, November 15, with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.

The Alouettes and Elks split their two meetings during the regular season. In June, Edmonton won 32-29 in overtime at Commonwealth Stadium, as running back Justin Rankin recorded 230 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. In August, Montreal won 48-30 at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, led by a 131-yard, three-touchdown performance from Tyson Philpot.

The weather forecast in Calgary calls for a high of 10 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, RDS, and Crave in Canada, and DAZN in the United States and internationally.