Before Sunday, Winnipegger Kienan Lafrance's place in three-down football could be summed up by looking at Page 83 of the 2016 CFL Guide and Record Book.

They spelled his name wrong.

“I didn't know it was wrong in the Guide,” Lafrance, on the phone from Ottawa, was saying, Monday night. “I thought I saw that on TV. I've got to maybe give these guys a call and see what's going on out there.”

No need to.

Everybody knows who Lafrance is now – and that his first name isn't spelled Keenan -- after he emerged from obscurity, and several inches of snow, to help carry the Ottawa Redblacks to the Grey Cup game on the weekend.

The former Sturgeon Heights Husky and U of Manitoba Bison nearly matched his entire season's rushing total in Sunday's East Final win over Edmonton, carrying the ball 25 times for 157 yards and the game-clinching touchdown in the final minute.

“I dream big and make big goals,” the 25-year-old Lafrance said. “This was a statement game, for sure. I wanted to show the league what I was all about. I was glad I got the opportunity to do that.”

Canadians drafted in the sixth round simply don't do what Lafrance did on Sunday.

Last season, his rookie year, the 5-foot-9, 205-pound workout fiend carried the ball just six times.

This season he ranked fourth on his own team, with 37 carries for 163 yards, behind Mossis Madu, Travon Van and even Nic Grigsby.

But when Madu got hurt early against the Eskimos, Lafrance stepped in ready to show what he could do.

And while the football world was shocked, he wasn't.

“I can't really say I surprised myself,” Lafrance said. “I live by, 'The harder you work, the luckier you get.'

“The type of game I had, that's my ideal game. That's what I'd like to hold myself up to. It's a little unrealistic to maybe do that every week. But that's the mindset you've got to have.”

It's the mindset he had with the Bisons, where he also went from obscurity – at one point he was behind star tailbacks Anthony Coombs and Nick Demski on the depth chart – to stardom.

“He's that guy that has always been nothing but work ethic and perseverance,” Bisons coach Brian Dobie said. “He had to play behind two superstar backs, and he knew he had superstar in him, too. And how frustrating would that have been? And he never complained. He never walked into my office once.

“And every time he got his chance to play in a game, he always came through.”

Kind of like Sunday.

Dobie tuned in halfway through the game and was surprised to see Lafrance in the game – but not surprised to see him run roughshod over the Eskimos.

“That was a statement game,” the coach said. “Whatever happens now, he's on the map. He's on the radar. People now know his number and they know his name.”

Like Andrew Harris, another Winnipeg running back, Lafrance turned hard work and some adversity into a star-in-waiting.

And when that opportunity came, grabbed it with both hands.

Coming from a single-parent family in St. James, Lafrance says his work ethic was instilled by his mom early.

“My mom put me in taekwondo when I was a kid,” he said. “That's where I got that foundation of discipline and probably mental toughness. She's the one I've got to thank most and give all the credit to. That hard work and determination was mostly influenced by her.”

Training with people like Harris, former Bomber Doug Brown and Eddie Steele, a Winnipegger with the Eskimos, helped Lafrance immensely, too.

But his fuel is his inner drive.

It's what pushed him through injuries and motivated him as a backup.

“You can either sit back and accept that role or you can keep pushing and pushing every year,” Lafrance said. “That's what I did, and it kind of worked out with everything now.”

It just so happens Lafrance's contract is up after the season.

There shoud be nobody asking him how he spells his name when they print up the next one.

pfriesen@postmedia.com

Twitter: @friesensunmedia