MONTREAL--Life without star running back Brandon Whitaker begins this week for the Montreal Alouettes in what will likely be their most important game of the CFL regular season.
The Alouettes (7-4) will play host to the Toronto Argonauts (6-5) with first place in the East Division on the line at Percival Molson Stadium this afternoon.
An Argonaut win would not only tie the teams at 7-5, but would give Toronto the season series between the two teams, which would be the first tiebreaker if they finish equal in points. The Argonauts handed Montreal its only home loss this season 23-20 on July 27. They have one more meeting Oct. 14 in Toronto.
Whitaker, Montreal's rushing leader who is also third on the team in receiving yards, saw his season end with a right knee injury late in a 28-17 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week.
His replacement is Victor Anderson, a similarly smaller but shifty back who topped 100 yards rushing in his only start when Whitaker missed a game Aug. 17 against Edmonton.
"All eyes are on the Alouettes and Argonauts, it's not about me," Anderson said Saturday. "I'll just try to do what I need to do to help our team win.
"We lost Brandon. He's a great running back. One of the best in the league. We've got to approach it like it's our last game and to give it our all."
The Alouettes also lost receiver Brian Bratton to a less-serious knee injury, but will have one of quarterback Anthony Calvillo's favourite targets back when Brandon London returns after missing two games.
Running back Chad Kackert will return to Toronto's lineup after missing one game, but coach Scott Milanovich opted to hold injured receiver Andre Durie out for a third straight game.
Milanovich, who was offensive co-ordinator in Montreal last season when Whitaker led the CFL in rushing, doesn't expect to see the Alouettes' vaunted offence suffer too much.
"I assume the guy they put in there will be very similar to Brandon," he said. "They'll miss Brian's leadership, but they get London back, so we don't expect them to miss a beat and it won't change what we do."
However, it is potentially devastating, mentally as much as strategically, to lose a multi-skilled player like Whitaker, and coach Marc Trestman said its effect will only be known when the season is played out.
"This team has had a great mindset that, when someone goes down, it's an opportunity for the next guy," he said. "We try to turn it into a psychological positive.
"Brandon Whitaker is a difference-maker, an elite player in our league. But we shall see. We've been without him for a game and Victor Anderson played very effectively. It's a different week. He's got to do it on a consistent basis."
