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Grey Cup primer: Tiger-Cats vs. Stampeders

John E. Sokolowski / USA Today

The Calgary Stampeders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will play for the Grey Cup at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver on Nov. 30.

Hamilton is making its second consecutive Grey Cup final appearance after losing to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2013, while Calgary is appearing for the second time in three years.

Here's what you need to know about the 102nd Grey Cup final:

Season series

The Tiger-Cats and Stampeders met twice early in the season, with Calgary winning both contests. The Stampeders escaped with a 10-7 victory at home in Week 4 thanks to their stout defense and prevailed 30-20 at Hamilton in Week 8 in the final game before the Ticats moved into Tim Hortons Field.

Neither of those contests featured Calgary running back Jon Cornish or Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros due to injuries, so it's difficult to read much into the results.

Key players

Bo Levi Mitchell

Mitchell tossed four touchdown passes in Calgary's West Division final romp over Edmonton, proving he can do in the playoffs what he did so well in his first season as a starting quarterback. The Stampeders have Drew Tate waiting on the sidelines, but Mitchell is the main reason they were the only team to finish the season with more than 500 points.

Jon Cornish

Cornish surpassed 1,000 rushing yards despite missing half the season due to injuries. He looked perfectly healthy while recording 174 combined yards and two touchdowns against the Eskimos and could run wild in the Grey Cup final - even against one of the league's top run defenses.

Juwan Simpson

Simpson has been a model of consistency for arguably the best defense in the league, finishing the regular season second on the Stampeders in tackles and adding four sacks. The veteran linebacker recorded seven tackles and a sack in the West final and should be a thorn in the side of Hamilton's offense on Sunday.

Zach Collaros

Collaros struggled early in the season before a concussion knocked him out of the lineup for weeks, but the dual-threat quarterback settled into a groove during Hamilton's playoff drive, finishing with 3,261 passing yards and 328 rushing yards. He does well to spread the ball around and - along with running back Nic Grigsby - his running game keeps defenses honest.

Brandon Banks

Banks emerged as the Tiger-Cats' everything man in his sophomore season. He finished the regular season with the second-most return yards in the league (1,342) while also recording 626 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage. But his biggest performance came against Montreal in the East final, when he changed the game with two punt-return touchdowns and added 68 yards from scrimmage.

Delvin Breaux

It's easy to understand why NFL teams are already inquiring about Breaux's availability. The shutdown corner returned an interception for a touchdown in his truncated regular season with Hamilton and added a key interception in the first half of the East final while drawing the toughest assignments. Expect leading Stampeders receiver Marquay McDaniel to see plenty of Breaux on Sunday.

The weight of expectation

Calgary is 75-32-1 since its last Grey Cup victory in 2008. The Stampeders have made the playoffs in every season, winning the West three times - including this season, when they tied a franchise record with 15 wins.

But Calgary has struggled to carry that regular-season success into the playoffs. Aside from a Grey Cup berth in 2012, the Stampeders were 1-4 in postseason action prior to defeating Edmonton in the West final, so they've earned a bit of a reputation for falling short when it matters most.

All that will be forgotten with a win Sunday.

Hamilton's Western woes

The Tiger-Cats are in the Grey Cup because of Tim Hortons Field. Hamilton went 6-0 at its new home stadium to end the regular season and the story was the same in the East final.

Things are decidedly less rosy for the Tiger-Cats away from their new digs. Their ugly 2-7 road record is even worse when East opponents are removed, leaving a hideous 1-4 away mark against West foes. Their only victory was a 16-11 stinker against the lowly Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Vancouver is a long way from Hamilton, but the Tiger-Cats will need to make it feel like home.

Party like it's 1999

If this Grey Cup matchup is any indication, it might be time to start hoarding for Y2K again:

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