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For the record, Willis had nothing to do with bringing Hunt to Edmonton.

“It was just brought to my attention when they said: ‘We’re bringing your guy back,’ and I kind of tried to figure out who it was for a minute,” said Willis. “Then he hit me up, he was like: ‘It’s on again.’

“It was a little relief getting a guy that we know can play in this league. With Marcus down, it kind of put more pressure on me and Almondo (Sewell) and the other guys.

“At the same time, that’s what we get paid for, but when you’ve got a guy like that who can come in and take some of the pressure on you, you know he can come in and play, it’s always a good thing.”

They’d rather have that pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which is exactly what Hunt did with a league-leading 16 sacks on the way to an all-star selection in his last CFL season.

And he’s looking forward to returning to the Canadian racetrack.

“We’re going to get it going. We might be a 2010 Ferrari, but hey, we’re back and these engines are still running hard,” said Hunt, who was placed on the Eskimos 46-man active roster and is expecting to see action in Saturday’s Labour Day rematch (5 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED).

Considering the Calgary Stampeders are coming off a 45-24 win in Monday’s Labour Day Classic where they didn’t allow a sack for the sixth game this season, Hunt’s addition can’t come soon enough.

“That’s one thing I’m disappointed in myself and the D-line that we let Bo Levi (Mitchell) get out of the pocket and he’s not a mobile quarterback like that,” Willis said. “So for us to let him get out of the pocket and put our DBs in a bind by asking them to cover guys for six seconds, that’s unacceptable.

“(Hunt) had great success before he left and we’re just looking for him to pick up where he left off.”

IN AND OUT: The Eskimos released DE Josh Watson from the practice squad, while moving FB Aaron Milton from the suspended list to the practice squad.

GModdejonge@postmedia.com

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