Being forced to flee your home because tanks are rolling through your village tends to put missing a field goal into perspective.

Lirim Hajrullahu was eight years old when his family fled the war in Kosovo and came to Canada.

“I still remember tanks rolling into our little town while we were leaving, houses going up in fire,” said the Toronto Argonaut placekicker. “There were other scary parts.”

Mental strength and determination helped Hajrullahu and his family deal with the challenges of a new language and different culture.

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That same mental toughness and desire to succeed was evident again last winter as Hajrullahu prepared to rebound from a frustrating 2015 season that saw him hit on just 68.8 per cent of his field goals as a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

“I worked extremely hard this off-season on my technique and getting back to my old routines,” said Hajrullahu. “This whole off-season I was on a mission to get back to where I was.”

So far, so good for the 26-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., who was signed by the Argos as a free agent in February.

In six games this year Hajrullahu has been good on 16 of 19 field goals for an 84.2 per cent average, third best in the CFL. He’s made all three of his attempts from 50 yards or more and has missed only once in eight tries from inside 40 yards.

In Toronto’s last game, a 23-20 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS, he made all five field goals, including a 53-yarder with 1:20 left, and was named as one of the league’s Shaw Top Performers of the Week.

Hajrullahu is pleased with his start but knows there is plenty of football left be played, including Friday night’s game when the Argos (4-2) host the Bombers (3-4) at BMO Field.

“The mission is never accomplished,” he said.

“I’m happy the way I started but we still have another 12 games left, plus playoffs. I’m just hoping I can continue helping our team win when we need it.”

After a college career at Western Ontario, Hajrullahu had a Cinderella season as a rookie with the Bombers in 2014. In 18 games he made 40 of 46 field goals for an 87 per cent average and was named the West Division’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.

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The clock struck midnight last year when Hajrullahu was good on just 22 of 32 field goals, including a disastrous 24-23 loss to Edmonton where he was zero-for-four. Hajrullahu went on Twitter afterwards to apologize to fans.

Hajrullahu began preparing for this season last November, working with Ontario kicking guru Ken Urquhart and Darryl Wheeler, a Western University alumnus. They focused on mechanics and the mental part of the game.

“Once you get your mechanics right, it’s a matter of practicing them properly and getting comfortable so when it comes game time, it’s just natural,” said Hajrullahu.

“It’s not a matter of kicking 500 balls a day. It’s a matter of doing the right things, little short kicks, and mentally it clicks. At this level everyone can hit 55 or 60-yard field goals. It’s a matter of whether you have it between the ears and connect when it matters.”

Players in other sports can usually make amends for a bad play fairly quickly. A basketball player who misses a shot can go down the floor and play good defence. A receiver who drops a pass can throw a big block on the next play.

A kicker who misses a field goal has to return to the sidelines and wait for another chance.

“You never know when you are going to get the next shot,” said Hajrullahu. “That’s why kickers have to be stout every single play.

“Every kicker knows you have just that one play. You don’t have remakes or redoes. You just train your thinking that way. It just comes with experience. Over time you train your brain that way. You become a stout kicker.”

“Every kicker knows you have just that one play. You don’t have remakes or redoes.” Lirim Hajrullahu

In Hajrullahu’s defence, he is playing in just his third CFL season. Besides field goals he also does the punting and kicking off. Hajrullahu will argue his last season with Winnipeg wasn’t as bad as the numbers suggest.

“It was only that one game” against Edmonton, he said. “If I don’t have that one game I’m still an 80 percent kicker. I think it’s been magnified a little too much.”

When placekicker Swayze Waters signed with the NFL Carolina Panthers this winter, Argo head coach Scott Milanovich had no hesitation turning to Hajrullahu.

“We thought we’d give him a shot and we thought he’d rebound,” Milanovich told the Toronto Sun. “We looked at the ones he missed last year and they were barely missed.

“We thought he’d have a good year.”

Upon arriving in Toronto Hajrullahu had to adapt to a new long snapper in Jake Reinhart and backup quarterback Logan Kilgore as a holder.

He had worked with Reinhart before and was quickly impressed by Kilgore.

“I don’t think there is a harder worker than he is,” said Hajrullahu. “He is a guy that really loves that position.

“I’m very fortunate to have someone that really enjoys and cares about holding. Kickers are very particular on how they want their ball held. He’s doing a great job.”

As for facing his old team Friday, Hajrullahu said it’s no big deal.

“If I make this any more special of a game, what’s to say next week when Edmonton plays us, that game is not special,” he said.

“Every game is the same. It will be fun after the game. Until then I will remain focused and they are another opponent. Hopefully we will come out and give the something to cheer about.”