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Calgary will play host to this year’s Grey Cup after the Stamps defeated Ottawa last fall in Edmonton.

The CFL’s 18-game season is often referred to as a marathon, with so many roster tweaks and so few teams not qualifying for the post-season that anything is possible, regardless of what the standings indicate.

At the moment, the Argos enter the week winless, having lost 11 in a row, a stretch of futility that goes back to the 2017 season finale against the B.C. Lions.

In such a quarterback-driven league, there’s suddenly a dearth of marquee arms following the retirement of Ricky Ray and in the wake of Mitchell’s injury to his pectoral, among other factors.

When the teams hook up, it’ll be Nick Arbuckle making his third start for the Stamps, McLeod Bethel-Thompson for the Argos hoping to end a streak that has seen him lose his eight past starts for the Double Blue.

Arbuckle is an efficient quarterback, but he’s no Bo Levi.

Talent-wise, the two most skilled players will be Eric Rogers and Derel Walker, receivers for Calgary and Toronto, respectively.

Rogers is coming off a tough night in Hamilton, while Walker had a break-out game in Toronto’s loss in Winnipeg.

Calgary defensive lineman Cordarro Law is awfully good as well, but having said that fans don’t buy tickets to watch an end sack quarterbacks.

Whether it’s the Argos’ abysmal start, the absence of a big-time quarterback, whatever the case may be, Thursday’s matchup is not oozing with star quality.

It’ll be interesting to see how many fans bother to show up to watch an Argos team that has historically been a bad draw out West.

In Winnipeg last Friday night, the Blue Bombers, by far the elite team in the CFL, announced a crowd of 24,187.

They’re be lucky to attract 20,000 this Thursday.