Hamilton @ Calgary preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 13, 2017 ) Calgary 28, Hamilton 25

The Calgary Stampeders look to get over the disappointment of losing their second straight Grey Cup final when they open up the new campaign at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday. The Stampeders cruised to 13 victories in the regular season before stumbling in the Grey Cup for the second straight year as they dropped a 27-24 decision to the Toronto Argonauts, and will be relying on some fresh faces in key positions in their quest for their fifth West Division title in six years.

"There are a lot of players on our team who are fairly new and we have to make sure that we grow and get better every week," Calgary coach Dave Dickenson told reporters. "It's going to be a process this year and we're going to have to build it." Hamilton looks to bounce back from a tumultuous 2017 season which saw the team miss the playoffs for the first time since 2012. June Jones took over from Kent Austin after the Tiger-Cats started the season with eight straight losses and guided the club to a respectable 6-4 record to earn the job on a full-time basis in 2018. Hamilton hopes to re-energize the fan base with the signing of former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, but the former first round pick of the Cleveland Browns is expected to back up Jeremiah Masoli, who put up some gaudy numbers down the stretch in Jones' high-octane offence.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN, ESPN2

ABOUT THE TIGER-CATS (2017: 6-12): Manziel, who starred at Texas A&M for two seasons before being selected 22nd overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, looked solid in his two preseason outings and threw his first CFL touchdown pass in the 30-15 victory against the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. "He played pretty well and he just keeps on getting better in practice everyday," Jones told reporters. "The second quarterback gets a lot of reps in what we do … so they get a lot of time to keep on moving forward." Hamilton traded defensive back Abdul Kanneh to the Toronto Argonauts last week in exchange for an eighth-round pick in the 2019 CFL Draft and signed former Edmonton running back John White on Tuesday.

ABOUT THE STAMPEDERS (13-4-1): Terry Williams is the leading candidate to fill the void left by bruising running back Jerome Messam, who left Calgary to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the offseason. Eric Rogers returns to the fold after a injury-filled stint with the San Francisco 49ers following a spectacular 2015 CFL season when he led the league in receiving yards (1,448) and touchdowns (10). Wide receiver Lemar Durant is inching closer to a return after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the Week 8 game against the Argonauts while defensive end Micah Johnson has recovered from offseason knee surgery and could play in the opener.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Stampeders have won 12 straight meetings with the Tiger-Cats.

2. Masoli threw for more than 300 yards in each of his last five games of 2017.

3. Calgary has won 13 or more games in five consecutive seasons.

PREDICTION: Stampeders 31, Tiger-Cats 24