The CFL’s newest breakout star is used to being overlooked.

Martese Jackson didn’t see much action during his three years at Florida Atlantic, spent all of last season on Montreal’s practice roster and played in only his second regular season game on Thursday in Winnipeg.

And boy, did he make the most of it, opening many eyes in the process.

Jackson racked up 339 return yards (191 of them on kickoffs, plus his 78-yard punt return for a touchdown), the fourth-most in league history, and that didn’t even include the spectacular other score, the 109-yard kickoff return that was wiped out by a controversial penalty flag.

The Argonauts gave Jackson a chance when injured regular return man Chandler Worthy went on the six-game injury list and the 5-foot-6 dynamo — pardon the pun — ran with it.

Jackson, who had stays with the Blue Bombers and Alouettes before being convinced to come to Toronto by general manager Jim Popp, is eager to prove the performance was no fluke.

“Coming out of college I didn’t play that much so you could kind of say I was definitely under the radar,” Jackson explained after practice on Sunday afternoon at York University.

“I just let that motivate me. Small, whatever they say ‘he’s too small,’ or, ‘he didn’t play too much,’ you know, just keep working and prove it. You’ve got to prove yourself to people.”

Suddenly, though, Jackson will be on the radar of every team. He’ll have to prove himself on a weekly basis.

“We found a good one the other night, we’ve just got to continue to block for him and understand that it will be different next time around, because they’re suddenly going to plan for him,” said Argos head coach Marc Trestman. “Every team has a difference-making type of player like that, that we have to stop and now, he’s certainly one of those guys that teams are going to have to take a look at and game-plan (against).

“We saw what he could do (at practice), saw he had the ability. There’s not much more I can say, it was just a matter of time before he was going to (show something).”

Jackson said he was a bit anxious the night before the game, knowing he finally had a shot after a lot of waiting.

“I think I slept pretty good, but I was pretty anxious, ready to get out there, ready to play,” he said.

Jackson said he spent his year in Montreal trying to not get frustrated. “I was behind Stefan Logan, so, he’s a great returner (perhaps the league’s best), so I was learning a lot,” Jackson said, noting Logan told him to focus on securing the ball on the catch before making a move.

Jackson didn’t know much about cities like Winnipeg or Montreal or about CFL rules when he first came up north, but he quickly found that the bigger field fit his skill-set like a glove.

“Yeah, when I first got out here, I didn’t realize until I started running on it and then I was like, ‘dang, just, wow,’ ” he said. “It plays a lot (to his strengths) because the defenders try to cut off the field and you can make one cut and get back up field. So it plays a big part (in Jackson’s ability to bust out to huge returns).”

Jackson is also fitting in in Toronto’s team-first locker room.

Just as Trestman had said the loss in Winnipeg was disappointing, considering some of the players turned in huge performances, Jackson echoed those thoughts.

“It felt good,” he said of his jaw-dropping jaunts, “(but) it could have been better if we got the win.”

A CHANCE TO RECOUP

A break from game action has come at a decent time for the Argonauts.

The team lost on Thursday and won’t play again until next Monday, a full 11 days between contests.

With one of the oldest rosters in the league, including star quarterback Ricky Ray, who took a hard hit late at Winnipeg, this is a welcome chance to let the veterans recover.

Ray said after the game that he was fine, his back was just a little sore at first and head coach Marc Trestman reiterated that his quarterback was OK.

Still, running back Brandon Whitaker has been through the wars and slotback S.J. Green is coming off of major off-season surgery, so the coach held out many of the first-teamers at practice on Sunday. That will continue, particularly when it comes to Ray.

“Ricky’s going to rest until Thursday when we start up again (with the first group),” Trestman said.

“We’ve got a full week of practice, it’s going to be critically important because we really do get a full week, three good days to practice once we start our normal game-plan week,” he said.

“Today, we just worked with guys who haven’t done a lot of playing so we can get them some work and we’ll do the same thing on Tuesday.