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“(I felt) some pain … below the waist,” said Harris, being about as vague as possible.

Asked what went through his mind immediately after he took the hit, Harris said, (I was thinking, ‘Oh, no.’ When something like that happens, it’s your worst nightmare because you’re exposed in a certain way. I went down and started praying immediately. I was like, ‘Let’s go get this thing looked at.’ It ended up not being as bad as I initially thought so I’m thankful.”

After getting hit, Harris retreated to the locker-room, but was back on the sidelines during the second half. After the game, he told some players on the Alouettes he would be OK.

“I’m doing treatment around the clock, through the night,” he said. “The night (the injury happened), I felt better than the day after. That’s just normal with any injury. The night before, I was biking. When it swells up is when it gets tighter. In the past, I’ve come back quickly and it’s worked well. Last year, I think I came back and played good football at the end of the year.”

Redblacks coach Rick Campbell suggested that Harris would be pestering him to play in the Redblacks’ second pre-season game — Thursday in Guelph against the Toronto Argos. He definitely will stay behind in Ottawa.

“It’s probably not feasible or smart (for me to play),” said Harris.

For anyone who doubts his toughness, here’s some background on the 32-year old.

When a doctor told Harris he would likely not play for at least a month after knee surgery in the middle of the 2009 college football season, the quarterback replied: “I don’t have a month, I have 10 days.” Two days after the surgery, Harris was moving the knee, testing it. Seven days later, he was back practising. The next day, he played, leading the Edinboro Fighting Scots to a 31-16 win over East Stroudsburg in NCAA Division II football. A couple of weeks later, Harris played the game of his life, completing 50-of-76 passes for 630 yards — five of the passes went for touchdowns, while he ran into the end zone for two more — in a gun-slinging 84-63 loss to West Liberty.