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Unlike Thompson and Wilson, a pair of 25-year-olds who have bounced around the NFL for the past couple of years, the CFL isn’t foreign to the 26-year-old Thurmond.

The six-foot-two, 260-pounder spent a month on the Stamps practice roster last fall, but it was his 2014 training camp stint with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that caught everyone’s attention.

Thurmond’s sublime preseason had earned him his first start in Week 2 that year at Commonwealth Stadium against the Edmonton Eskimos, and that’s the day his career trajectory changed.

As he attempted to track down quarterback Mike Reilly, Thurmond’s knee gave out, resulting in a torn ACL and a small bone fracture.

“My knee just buckled and I was just laying there,” Thurmond said. “I remember it like it was yesterday. Non-contact injury. It was something I do every day in practice, getting to the quarterback every day. All of a sudden, when gametime happened to present itself, it just popped.”

Frustrating would be an understatement, and it sent Thurmond on a year-long rehab process.

“Man, it was very frustrating,” said Thurmond, who was released by the Ticats just before training camp last spring. “I dominated through training camp, I dominated through pre-season — I think I had like four sacks in preseason, and if I’m not mistaken, I think, I led the preseason in sacks that year — and then my name was called and I was ready for the opportunity. Then, boom, tore my ACL.”

There’s no doubt Thurmond can get after the quarterback, evidenced by his senior season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2012 when he amassed 70 tackles (41 solo), 25 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble.