If a fellow can kick a team record 56-yard field goal, shouldn’t he be allowed to mail in his extra points? As Richie Leone can tell you, it’s not that easy anymore.

Despite kicking up an early storm in his first season as the B.C. Lions placekicker and punter -- he is a perfect seven-for-seven in field goal attempts after two games -- Leone blew the extra try after Rolly Lumbala’s fourth-quarter touchdown Friday night against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Among the rule changes the Canadian Football League introduced in 2015 is moving convert attempts from the 12-yard line back to the 32. What was once automatic (Saskatchewan’s Paul McCallum has never missed one in his 23 CFL seasons) no longer is.

“You definitely have got to stay locked in,” Leone explained. “I definitely was. I hit it a little thin, I guess. I don’t know if there’s a little bit of draft up there? I pushed it a little right. Being in this business, you want to have a short-term memory. That’s definitely a skill.”

Woe, be gone.

Later in the final quarter, he calmly kicked his team record field goal to tie the game (29-29) with 0:31 left. The Lions won it in overtime, 35-32, with Travis Lulay throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Manny Arceneaux for the victory. The convert attempt, in this case, wasn’t necessary.

“He (Leone) had about five yards, I think, to spare on that field goal,” said long snapper Mike Benson. “He’s got a big leg. He’s cool as a cucumber.”

Leone had never kicked one longer than 48 yards for his high school team in Roswell, Ga., where he played quarterback, punter and placekicker. At the University of Houston, where he was recruited strictly as a punter, Leone kicked field goals for seven games, in his senior year. His longest successful attempt was 40 yards. He had kicked a 42-yarder earlier Friday against Saskatchewan. But an attempt from 56, with the game on the line . . . not even McCallum, the great Lui Passaglia, Ted Gerela or Mark McLoughlin had accomplished that feat in a Lions jersey. Passaglia (four times), Matt Kellett and Curtis Head shared the previous team record at 54 yards. The ageless McCallum, now back with Saskatchewan, holds the CFL record for the longest field goal of 62 yards, playing for the Roughriders in 2001.

“My thought was, ‘Just put a good foot on it and follow through,’” Leone said. “We’d had good snaps (from Benson) and holds (from Jon Jennings) all game. That goes a long way -- especially having trust in that, especially early in the year. It was fun, getting a chance to celebrate with my team after that. So incredible. I got very emotional after that.”

As a rookie, getting to know BC Place Stadium for the first time, Leone is still learning about the nuances of the dome. He had practised there before, but Friday was his first game. The Lions were orphaned from their home in June for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.