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“Sarge has been on me for a few weeks and I guess things kind of clicked and worked out in my way,” said McNabb, a 6-foot-2 (188 centimetre), 245-pound (111-kilogram) North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings product.

Sargeant’s breakfast pep talk fuelled some extra motivation, McNabb admitted.

“It was the last home game and Thanksgiving weekend. It’s the time to show up and perform and hopefully keep the momentum going in the playoffs.”

McNabb recorded 27 tackles and three QB sacks during the regular season.

Over four seasons, he has 84 tackles, 9.5 sacks and a pass deflection with the Toppers.

“His four years here have been great,” said Hilltops defensive line coach Dave Fisher. “He’s been a contributor on four national championship teams. He’s been in those big games. Now that we’re getting ourselves ready to go here, that’s when we start to really see that veteran leadership come through. He’s been in these big games. He’s been in these situations. I expect big things out of him down the stretch here.”

McNabb came into the season ranked No. 24 nationally on the CJFL top-50 list, ahead of a pair of Canadian Football League Saskatchewan Roughrider camp attendees from the Hilltops: Colton Holmes (No. 40) and Mason Ochs (No. 35).

“Obviously, Jesse’s a veteran player and he’s played in a lot of big games,” Fisher said. “We expect big things out of our veteran players. He was doing his job real well, but he just wasn’t getting the sacks. I think, at times, he maybe tried a little too hard and last weekend, he just said, ‘I stopped thinking and I started playing again’ and he was able to get to the quarterback three times.”