On Sunday, Hamilton Tiger-Cats' Peter Dyakowski will battle in the frozen trenches of Regina for the right to hoist the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup over his head for the first time.

The next time you'll see him competing on TV, the environment will be decidedly warmer. And the game he's playing will be a whole lot less physical. Because, a few months from now, the massive guard will be showing off his brain power on Jeopardy.

"I'm a big, dumb animal going on Jeopardy to go against some smarty-pants," he laughs.

Big? Uh, yeah. Six-foot-5 and 325 pounds qualifies. An animal? On the field sometimes, sure.

But dumb? Not quite. You'll recall he already wears the title of Canada's Smartest Person after winning that game show on CBC a couple of years back. Beating some pretty bright folks. Plus, he loves Jeopardy and is really good at trivia games. Which is how he got on the path to this moment in the first place.

Back in January, the 29-year-old was one of the 200,000 or so folks who signed up for the show's online exam. The questions were general knowledge stuff from all over the spectrum.

Like what? Dyakowski says he doesn't really remember.

"It's about a year ago," he says. "I've been hit in the head a lot."

Anyway, in May, he received an email from Sony Entertainment. It was an invitation to a live audition in Toronto a couple of months later.

So, after a particularly physical, pads-on July practice, he raced down the QEW - after a shower since, "I didn't want to be the smelly guy at the audition" - took the written test and then played a real game.

"I've actually had the Jeopardy button in my hand," he says.

Even for a guy whose job involves bashing into other large men in games where one mistake can be the difference between winning and losing, and where a few mistakes could cost you your spot, he says this was intense.

He got his first answer wrong. He knew the correct response, the wrong words just popped out. But then he says he started to roll. His experience under fire was an advantage, he says. As was his timing with the button. Click too early and you get a quarter-second penalty. Nailing it at the exact moment is key.

If anyone knew who he was, they didn't mention it. And he wasn't asked his job by producers until after he was done.

"I didn't go in as the football player," he says. "I went in as the uncommonly large gentleman at the audition."

Nearly five months went by. Then, while sitting in his Winnipeg hotel room the day before the last game of the CFL regular season, his phone rang. It was a producer from the show congratulating him on making it.

In April, he'll be heading south to compete. Probably with teammates Marwan Hage and Tim O'Neill, he says. Guys he'll try to get on a game show of their own.

"I figure, if we're going down, we should try to get on Price Is Right, too," he laughs.

As for Jeopardy, Dyakowski says he's going to need some luck with the categories. Early First Ladies' Middle Names or Abstract Flemish Watercolours may be a problem.

So what would he like to see pop up?

"I'm hoping for CFL history, Canadian pop stars, Tim Hortons pastries and British Columbia geography," he deadpans.

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He says he won't be mentioning the Canada's Smartest Person thing during his appearance. Too much of a setup for humiliation if he loses. But, if he wins, he laughs he'll be bragging his face off about it on Day 2.

No matter what, he gets a free trip to Southern California, at least $1,000, which is the third-place prize, and a great story to tell. And, if he wins, he gets a nice, little chunk of change. Nothing to retire on, but nothing to sneeze at, either.

"I'd much rather win a Grey Cup than an episode of Jeopardy," he says. "But I'm going to be greedy and hope for both."