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Manny Arceneaux sat alone in the B.C. Lions locker-room, his head ringing, his mind unclear, and knew something was happening out there.

He just wasn’t sure what.

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He’d hear a roar and knew that was good. Then there would be silence and he knew that was bad. Every now and then one of the equipment guys would give him an update. But he didn’t really know for sure until he heard one final roar.

Then his teammates came into the room, his guys, falling all over each other, laughing, crying and he knew what they’d done. And Arceneaux started laughing and crying right along with them.

“It’s very emotional for me, man,” Arceneaux said, shortly after the Lions recorded an impossible, impassioned 32-31 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Division semifinal. “I just kept saying, we’ve just got to make a play. We pulled it out, man. I never did (lose hope)”

And Arceneaux might have been alone there, as well.