REGINA — Ed Gainey set a goal for himself before the 2017 season began, putting a number on the amount of interceptions he wanted to get.

And by season’s end, he achieved exactly that.

“I do, I do definitely set goals for myself,” he said at Mark’s CFL Week in Winnipeg last month. “Believe it or not, last year I told myself I would get 10 or more picks.”

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Gainey totalled 10 interceptions with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season, which was four more than all five of his previous CFL seasons combined.

The 27-year-old’s most memorable game of the season was in Week 8, when he picked off the BC Lions four times and returned one for a score. That night, he became the first CFL player since 1986 and only the ninth in history to notch four picks in a game.

“Just Coach Jones and (defensive backs coach Jason) Shivers and everybody else just having confidence in me to be this calibre of a player,” he said, explaining how he had his best season to date.

“I’ve just been working hard all my life to get to this part. At every level that I’m playing, whether it’s high school, college or professional, I give myself a couple of years to get adjusted and then I feel like I should be at my peak by then.”

Gainey spent his first two seasons with the Montreal Alouettes (2012, 2013) before heading to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2014, 2015). The five-foot-11, 193-pound defensive back collected 56 tackles, two interceptions and 14 special teams tackles in 22 games over the two seasons in black and gold.

He then signed with the Riders in 2016 and in his first season in Riderville, tallied 49 tackles, three interceptions, a touchdown and two forced fumbles.

When the Roughriders traded for Zach Collaros from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Gainey was thrilled. The pair were teammates when Gainey donned the black and gold and when he heard the news that they would be wearing the same colours again, he couldn’t contain his excitement.

“When we signed him, I automatically knew that gave us a chance to play in the Grey Cup and the opportunity to go out there and win a championship,” Gainey said of Collaros. “I definitely think that was a great move for us and we’re going to see a lot of Zach Collaros.”

Not only does Gainey have full faith in Collaros’ on-field talents, he knows his off-field personality will only be an asset for the Roughriders.

“He has that fire in him and you can tell,” said Gainey. “If he makes a mistake, he’s going to be hard on himself. I think people can definitely feed off of that because when a guy wants to do that well for himself then you want to do well for him. At the end of the day I just feel like that guys will feel off of him and feed off of his energy.”

Last season, the Roughriders lost in the Eastern Final to the Toronto Argonauts after ending the season with a 10-8 record – their best finish in recent memory.

“We have a lot of unfinished business,” he said, after his team losing to the Argos late in the Eastern Final. “We’ve just been working our way up and trying to progress every year. I think with Coach Jones being here and what he’s been trying to do for the team, I think everybody’s following suit and hopping on board the ship.”

Like most players do, Gainey has set a few goals for himself for the 2018 season. Will his interception goal going to be more than 10?

“It’s definitely more but I’m going to keep it to myself for right now. I’ve been telling a lot of people but I want to hold back a little bit,” he laughed.