The casual football fan probably doesn’t know Mitchell Gale. That’s because he rarely gets onto the field.

The native of Alva, Okla., has been the third-string quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts. His best strength may be his patience.

Asked if he can remember the passes he threw for Toronto last season, he has no problem.

“I threw one against Montreal, for a touchdown,” he said.

One pass, for one yard, one touchdown.

In his first year, he threw nine passes and completed three.

To Gale, this slow learning curve is just another step toward earning the trust of the coaches and his teammates.

“It’s a process,” Gale said after practice.

Gale’s duties have been mostly restricted to third-down yardage situations when the Argos need a yard and don’t want to risk injury to Ricky Ray or his backup Trevor Harris.

Gale rushed for 57 yards on 27 attempts last season.

It’s a recent trend in the CFL.

“I think people have found it’s a good way to get young quarterbacks in the game in critical situations and take snaps,” Argos general manager Jim Barker said.

When Gale arrived from Abilene Christian University, Gale didn’t even know there was such a thing as a short-yardage QB package.

However, this season may hold more promise for the 25-year-old third-year Argo.

He has jumped to No. 2 on the depth chart behind Harris because Ray is injured and could miss a big portion of the season.

Gale is expected to see lots of action Tuesday when the Argos open their pre-season against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Varsity Stadium.

Barker couldn’t remember when the CFL began this trend. He attributed this to Montreal Alouettes GM Jim Popp.

However, Adrian McPherson probably was the first ever short-yardage specialist in the CFL around 2008 when he came in during short-yardage packages to relieve Anthony Calvillo, who had been coping with a shoulder injury.

“We started pulling him (Calvillo) so he didn’t get hit on that shoulder on QB sneaks,” Popp said.

CFL head statistician Steve Daniel began to notice teams using the No. 3 QB in these situations about five years ago.

But there is no real pattern.

Last year Edmonton installed Pat White in this package, while Winnipeg featured No. 3 Robert Marve. However, last season Calgary used their No. 2 QB Drew Tate instead of their No. 3 Bryant Moniz, and Ottawa’s Henry Burris took all the snaps last season.

With Gale, you might think there would be quarterback envy in trying to unseat Harris. Not so.

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“If I’m going to be the best quarterback I can be, then I’m going to have to push Trevor,” Gale said of his roommate.

“Trevor’s going to have to better than me, and that’s good for him and it’s good for the team. The competition kind of fuels each of us and that makes the team better.”

NOTE: The Argos cut former Alabama Crimson Tide QB Blake Sims over the weekend.