A funny thing happened on the way to Friday night’s game between the Ottawa REDBLACKS and Calgary Stampeders, and it’s something that might have signaled a change in CFL expectations.

It’s the Stampeders who will use this game as a measuring stick more than the REDBLACKS and that is not something we’re used to. After all the Stamps have been that stick, mostly, for the last seven or eight seasons.

The REDBLACKS, defending East Division champions, pretty well know who they are and have been hollering it right from the get go in 2016.

Calgary, on the other hand, has some questions they’d like to answer, as they attempt to climb onto the CFL throne again after being knocked out of it in 2015. They’re not major questions, mind you. But questions, nonetheless.

That subtext forms a backdrop for an evening of football in The Capital that should be a fair bit of fun.

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Chris Williams blasting off for open spaces. Marquay McDaniel giving a nifty shift and finding a seam. Greg Ellingson and Brad Sinopoli muscling their way to catches in traffic. Joe West extending his arms and hauling ’em in by his fingernails.

And I ain’t even mentioned Ernest Jackson yet. Nor have I mentioned the battering ram ground game of Stampeders’ running back Jerome Messam.

The Friday Night Football showdown in Ottawa between the REDBLACKS and Calgary Stampeders shapes up to be a good one for your eyeballs, unless your eyeballs don’t particularly like fireworks. These are two teams that can get after it on offence. If you’re a fan of defence, this game will also furnish you with intrigue as two top drawer units do their best to limit the damage done by a couple of gunslinging quarterbacks who have lots of options from which to choose.

We’ve got all the ingredients necessary for something delicious, including questions that would have, in previous seasons, seemed out of place. Let’s see what kind of pie we end up with.

Through two weeks, Ottawa leads the CFL in number of big plays on offence, with nine (eight of them have been passing plays of 30 yards or more). Calgary is next in line with seven (four passing plays and three runs of 20 yards or more), though they’ve added two more big plays on special teams for a share of the league lead with the REDBLACKS, overall. These are a couple of teams that can open up a can of you-know-what at any given time.

The bigger questions, however, seem to be Calgary’s heading into this one, and that is not something we would have said about a game between these two in previous seasons. Just how good is this Calgary offence, one that lost some major parts after the 2015 season? And can their still formidable defence up to the task of unplugging the power source that has seen the REDBLACKS go on a rampage early in 2016?

These are but two of the questions that make this game a marquee event and signal a shift in expectations as the 2016 CFL season progresses through the early stages.

Ottawa’s league-leading offence may have put up incredible numbers against a soft Edmonton defensive effort in Week One, but they followed with additional showy statistics against a very good Montreal outfit last week.

“We’re not quite where we were last year but we’re definitely doing some good things,” said REDBLACKS’ receiver Chris Williams, who has very noticeably been doing many of those good things himself. “We’re rockin’ and rollin’.”

That they are. Ottawa’s overall quarterback efficiency so far is an incredible 144.5 with Trevor Harris sitting at an astounding 158.3 since taking over for an injured Henry Burris in Week One. The REDBLACKS have missed exactly zero beats, despite a plague of injuries in their backfield that has seen them lose Burris as well as two starting running backs in William Powell and Travon Van (next up: the newly signed Nic Grigsby and understudy Kienan Lafrance).

That’s what Calgary’s defence faces on Friday night. A full-speed buzzsaw. Can they jam it?

Obviously, they’re runnin’ a good system,” said Stamps’ Head Coach Dave Dickenson. “Big challenge for our defence.”

It’s a defence that still has lots of stopping power despite the absence of a couple of heart and soul players in linebackers Juwan Simpson (released) and Keon Raymond (signed with Toronto). What Calgary still has is a formidable front four rotation (be even better when they get some of the wounded back) and a quartet of the league’s best veteran defensive backs in Fred Bennett, Josh Bell, Jamar Wall and Brandon Smith.

Add what they believe to be a special first-year player in cornerback Tommie Campbell and you’ve got a stellar match-up of elite pass catchers versus elite pass defenders.

Now, there’s also the matter of what Calgary’s offence can do against a very good Ottawa defence, one that is punctuated by a group of talented, fast and bruising members of a secondary known as D Block. Factor in a stout linebacking corps anchored by Damaso Munoz in the middle and a rebuilt defensive line that may not be what it used to be but still packs some punch and you’ve got a hill to climb.

The Stampeders offence flew high on Canada Day, responding nicely after a Week One effort in Vancouver that underwhelmed. However, the Stamps’ July 1st outburst (516 total yards including 309 yards passing) came against a very flat Winnipeg Blue Bombers outfit, one that also gave up over 200 yards rushing. The Bombers’ showed little resistance that night and so there is a lingering question; How good can the Stampeders’ offence be against a quality defence?

Friday night’s game in Ottawa will put them to the test and if Bo Levi Mitchell can snap the reins on another hard-charging attack, that should silence any questions one might have about how great an offence they have, despite the absence of running back Jon Cornish (retired) and receiver Eric Rogers (NFL).

Not so long ago in the CFL, you’d have assumed that Ottawa had the questions to answer in a match-up with the Stampeders. The spur’s on the other boot now.

It’s still early but perhaps the rest of the CFL will be answering a different question this year; “How do we match up against the Ottawa REDBLACKS?”