TORONTO — It’s all about the old and the new this week in the CFL.

The seasoned vet Ricky Ray returns to action for the first time since Labour Day while Vernon Adams Jr. makes his first career start for Montreal, and both are trying to keep their respective teams alive in the East Division playoff race.

Eight teams remain in contention but two could be scratched off as early as Friday night.

What else is on tap heading into the final three weeks of the season? Mike Reilly continues to chase 6,000 passing yards; the Ticats need a win on Friday night to keep their hopes of winning the East alive; and the Stampeders find themselves in the midst of a month-long period between meaningful games.

From Reilly approaching the benchmark to the league-leading Stampeders, we ask the tough questions heading into Week 18.

Here are nine pressing questions for Week 18:

1. Should the Lions give any thought to a quarterback change?

A quarterback change in BC — crazy idea, but is it something the Lions should consider?

So far the narrative in Vancouver has surrounded the young and electrifying Jennings, who at 24 has emerged as one of the league’s most exciting game-changers and has arguably taken the next career step in his sophomore season.

Yet for a team boasting one of the CFL’s top defences and a dominant ground game, could a switch to the experienced veteran in Travis Lulay pay dividends?

It’s highly unlikely the Lions take that route unless Jennings totally implodes over the next few weeks (worth noting: he has thrown five interceptions over the last two weeks), but with a former Most Outstanding Player on the bench? It’s a hard possibility to ignore.

2. Is Vernon Adams Jr. the Alouettes’ quarterback of the future?

The time has finally arrived for Vernon Adams Jr.’s first career start.

First the Alouettes changed coaches and traded Kevin Glenn to Winnipeg; now it’s a change from one youngster to another at quarterback; from the 24-year-old Rakeem Cato to the 23-year-old Adams.

This season has been a tough one for Alouettes fans but a young quarterback like Adams could be the payoff. Adams has sat and soaked it all in and now he’s ready to show whether he’s the quarterback of the future.

Is he? Jacques Chapdelaine and Jim Popp and co. will have to be patient with him, and they will be after surrendering a first round pick for his services. But the next few weeks could give us the first indication as to what the future holds, both for Adams and the Alouette franchise.

 3. Will the Ticats claw back to win the East?

The Ticats clinch a playoff spot this weekend with either a win or an Argos loss, but first place in the East is a different story.

For a team with so much hope heading into 2016, the fact that the Ticats could fall to 6-10 this weekend and Ottawa could clinch the division has to be disappointing to Ticats fans. However, the race isn’t over yet.

A win on Friday night in Ottawa pulls the Tabbies within a single point of first place, leaving the door wide open at the top. With home dates against Edmonton and Montreal — both winnable games — and Ottawa primed for a home and home with the surging Bombers to close out the season, it’s fair to say Friday night’s East Division showdown will go a long way in deciding first place.

Can the Tabbies jump back in the race and take down the REDBLACKS?

4. How good are the Bombers?

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the best they’ve been in a long time, but how long?

With victories in nine of their last 11 games, the Bombers have asserted themselves as a true Grey Cup contender heading into the final few weeks of the season.

The defence makes more plays than any other team in the league. The offence can move the ball downfield in multiple ways via several different weapons. Special teams and coaching are solid. In the end, it’s really hard to identify any potential weakness for Mike O’Shea and Kyle Walters’ 2016 Bombers.

Is this the best Bombers team in recent history?

In 2011 Winnipeg won the East at 10-8 and appeared in the Grey Cup but fell to the Lions. In 2007 the Bombers had a solid shot at the Grey Cup but were plagued by an injury to Kevin Glenn in an Eastern Final victory over Toronto. Before then, the Bombers last appeared in the Grey Cup in 2001, a 27-19 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.

The Bombers last won a Grey Cup in 1990, but does this group have the best chance at a return to glory in the Manitoba capital?

 5. Is Ricky Ray still a CFL starter?

There are two important perspectives to consider on the topic of whether Ricky Ray can still be a starting CFL quarterback.

On one end, the argument that can’t be ignored, the 36-year-old hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Injuries have plagued Ray and even a quarterback who plays at a high level when healthy is hard to rely on — something the Argos quickly learned this year.

On the other hand, it’s hard to call Ray injury prone when his injuries have boiled down to hard luck. Ray suffered knee injuries on two different occasions when being met by a defender on his follow-through. On Labour Day, Ray was left unprotected on a play that otherwise would have likely resulted in a touchdown pass to Andre Durie.

No one on either side of the argument is denying the talent that Ray possesses. The work he’s put in on his surgically-repaired throwing shoulder paid dividends this season, and the veteran was only just heating up before his most recent setback.

Before you give up on Ray just remember, Henry Burris is 41 and continues to play the game at an MOP-calibre level. Could Ray?

 6. Does it matter if the Stamps win their final two games?

While the Stampeders took care of the Alouettes with relative ease in Week 17, Head Coach Dave Dickenson wasn’t entirely pleased with how such a result was achieved.

The Stamps are 14-1-1 and have clinched a home playoff date for Nov. 20, leaving them two remaining games without any meaning in the standings whatsoever. That leaves them at a chance at the best regular season in CFL history and a lot of time to spend waiting.

With the season ending on a bye, Dickenson hasn’t revealed any plans to rest starters. What’s more, his focus is on keeping his players sharp and focused at a time when focus can easily slip away.

At a time when it’s easy to say games are meaningless, are the Stampeders’ final two games important — or should Dickenson rest his starters and keep everyone fresh for when it all matters?

 7. Have the Riders found their long-term answer at running back?

The trademark of a Chris Jones-coached team is the ability to control the flow of the game by running the football on offence.

With 74.1 rushing yards per game — the second-fewest in the CFL — that’s something the Riders have struggled to do throughout 2016 so far, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Riders have run the ball better lately and no one has made a greater impact there than Joe McKnight, who subbed in for the injured Curtis Steele and exploded against the Argos for 150 rushing yards on 17 carries and an average of 8.8 yards per carry.

Give plenty of credit to the Rider O-line, but Jones may have found a feature back in the shifty McKnight, an exciting player who’s got the ability to score on any given play.

Will McKnight be the featured back for the Riders for the long haul?

8. Will Henry Burris be back in Ottawa in 2017?

Henry Burris can still bring it.

That much is clear following Ottawa’s 30-29 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats over the weekend, in which the reigning Most Outstanding Player threw for 393 yards and a touchdown on 27-of-39 passing. On the road against a dominating defence in a difficult environment with first place on the line, the 41-year-old put on a quarterbacking display as good as any across the league this season.

There’s a good chance Burris plays for a second straight Grey Cup in a month and a half. Whether that happens or not, what happens next?

Burris took a paycut to stay in Ottawa in 2017, while the REDBLACKS have placed their future hopes on Trevor Harris. But what if Burris gives them the best chance to win? Could he start in Ottawa next year? Is it possible he gets traded and starts elsewhere?

9. Will Mike Reilly reach the 6,000 passing yard mark?

Mike Reilly has put up a career year and some might also argue his 2016 campaign could sit among the all-time greats.

Reilly has a chance to become just the fifth different quarterback to throw for 6,000 yards in a season (Doug Flutie did it twice) and needs just 315.3 yards per game over his final three starts to do it. Considering he’s thrown for 336.9 yards per game this season, that remains highly possible.

Can the Eskimos’ gunslinger join a very exclusive club and etch his name in CFL history with names like Flutie, Anthony Calvillo, Kent Austin and David Archer?