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“I took a lot of the knowledge I have from playing against (Trestman) when I was in Winnipeg,” Charlton said. “He brought a lot of this offence to the CFL. We see the same offence he calls every day in practice. He’s an offensive guy, he’s an element-of-surprise guy. He’s very meticulous and very detailed. If the route is eight yards, he wants it at eight yards, not 7½ yards, not 8½ yards, it’s very precise. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

That’s not to say that Ray, in his 15th CFL season, isn’t a factor.

After being set back the past couple of seasons with things like an injured shoulder, a wonky MCL, a deflated lung and a fractured rib, the veteran has looked good the first two weeks of the CFL season (with Toronto beating Hamilton and losing to B.C.) — completing 62 passes for 833 yards.

“We’ve been playing against Ricky Ray for the past four years,” Charlton said. “We know Ricky Ray, we know him very well. We know the things he can do, we know the throws he likes to make, the throws he can make on a consistent basis. We have to take those throws away, we have to make him throw the ball into places he doesn’t really want to throw into.”

“We need to do two things,” Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said. “Put pressure on Ricky so he’s not comfortable, the other thing is changing up the coverage. If he knows the coverage and he’s comfortable with what it is, he’s an accurate passer and that plays right into his hands. We need to change it up and keep him off balance.”