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And Harris treats today the way he treated his time in Toronto — like he was fighting for a job every day and that it could be over at any time. He doesn’t sound like a championship quarterback or have that record-breaking resume. There’s no showy bravado with him, none of the usual quarterback machismo.

“My whole career, my thought process, hasn’t changed,” said Harris. “I’m fighting for a roster spot every day. That generates who you are. My mindset has never changed from those days.”

And now he’s a starting quarterback in the Grey Cup, and probably the man who should be representing the East on Thursday night for the Most Outstanding Player award. He got beaten out, passed over really, by Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli, even though he won all three regular-season games against the Tiger-Cats and then blasted him after the voting was completed. If the voting was done today, the verdict would be obvious. Harris beat Masoli four times this season, the last time by a landslide.

Now the next test. Sunday and the great Calgary Stampeders. An unfamiliar place for Harris. He says he’s ready, even after losing to the Stamps twice in the season. He says he’s ready, making fun of his lousy statistics in the two losses to Calgary.

“He’s about winning,” said Jim Barker, the general manager who first brought him to the CFL. “He’s about winning and taking care of business. This business can be so fickle. You wind up in the wrong place with the wrong coach, wrong opportunity and it can be over for you.

“But when a quarterback and an offensive coordinator mesh, the way Trevor and Jaime Elizondo have in Ottawa, that says a lot about both of them. I think Trevor Harris is establishing who he is.”

The road has been long, with so many auditions, so many disappointments, getting to the big stage. The wait for Trevor Harris is over. He’s been everywhere and now he is here.

ssimmons@postmedia.com

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