This time, Nathan Rourke is part of the host team.
Rourke is to start at quarterback for the B.C. Lions on Saturday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, whose roster includes running back A.J. Ouellette — a fellow alumnus of the Ohio University Bobcats.
“I hosted him for his official visit,” Ouellette recalls of Rourke’s introductory trip to the Athens, Ohio campus.
“I showed him around the weight room and the rec centre at OU. I asked him if he wanted to see anything else, like the dorms, and he said, ‘Can you just take me back to the hotel? I’ve got an exam tomorrow.’
“He’s just a nerd.”
Rourke committed to Ohio after spending the 2016 football season at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas.
Over three seasons at OU, he threw for 7,457 yards and 60 touchdowns in 39 games. He also rushed for 2,639 yards and 49 touchdowns, one of which was a 75-yarder.
Rourke and Ouellette were teammates in 2017 and 2018. Ouellette exceeded 1,000 rushing yards each year, peaking at 1,306 in his graduating season of 2018.
Where does one start with the highlight reel?
On Oct. 14, 2017, Rourke rushed for 143 yards and three TDs against the Bowling Green Falcons. Ouellette produced 123 yards and two majors along the ground.
Ouellette amassed 196 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns, one of which was on a pass from Rourke, against the Buffalo Bulls on Nov. 14, 2018. Rourke threw three TD passes and ran for another six-pointer.
It was a typical day at the office for the firm of Ouellette and Rourke.
“One of my favourite pictures from college is of him running the ball down the sideline on an inside-zone play,” Ouellette says.
“We were 40 yards downfield. I was untouched. He was untouched. He just had the ball. I’m lead-blocking for him and we’re both in stride, looking back.
“Looking back now, I probably should have just hit him out of bounds.”
That isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Rourke has rushed for 791 yards, averaging 7.8 yards per carry, since making his CFL debut with B.C. in 2021.
This season, he has rushed for 163 yards and two TDs, maintaining a career average of 7.8 yards per carry. He has also thrown for 1,270 yards and seven TDs while demonstrating the talents that made him such a sensation in 2022.
Rourke was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian despite playing in only 10 games during the 2022 season. He passed for 3,349 yards and 25 TDs in those 10 starts.
The year 2022 was also a sweet one for Ouellette, who ran for two TDs to help the Toronto Argonauts post a 24-23 Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium.
Ouellette repeated as an East Division All-CFL selection in 2023, when he rushed for 1,009 yards in 15 games. He signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent on Feb. 13, 2024.
Rourke and Ouellette were first on opposing sides with their current teams on Oct. 12, 2024, when Saskatchewan won 39-8 at Mosaic Stadium.
The tone was set on the game’s second offensive play, when A.J. Allen intercepted Rourke and sped 48 yards for a touchdown.
It was quite a renewal of acquaintances for Allen and Rourke, who were teammates in minor football with the Burlington Stampeders.
“He’s a great guy,” Allen says. “He’s a friend.”
But friendship has its limits.
“You want to see people get out of the game healthy and everything like that but, with all due respect, I hope he has a horrible day,” the Roughriders’ starting weak-side linebacker says with a laugh.
“I hope he throws 17 interceptions and rushes for negative-80 yards and fumbles eight times! I hope for that, because that means we’re having a great day.
“I obviously wish him the best but, right now, he’s the opposing quarterback. We’ve got things to do and things to achieve.”
