CFL.ca Staff:

TORONTO -- With Labour Day Weekend and the rematches officially in the rear-view mirror, Week 12 marks the beginning of the stretch drive to playoffs, with all four matchups this week holding importance to each team’s playoff hopes.

Related: Week 12 Action
» Video: Winnipeg at Calgary Preview » Esks acquire Darcy Brown from Ticats » Als, Esks swap kickers in trade » Elimimian returns to Lions » The journey continues for Stevie Baggs » Jason Armstead signs with Stampeders » Ticats acquire Peguese from Lions

The weekend kicks off with Friday Night Football in Calgary, as Kevin Glenn and the Stampeders get set to host Joey Elliott and the Blue Bombers.

On Saturday, the first half of a double header will pit Kerry Joseph’s Eskimos against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, followed by a crucial battle of division leaders at BC Place Stadium between the Lions and Argonauts.

Finally, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be looking to continue their winning ways, when they visit Percival Molson Stadium and the Montreal Alouettes.

Equipped with the most up-to-date storylines, roster moves, stats, milestones and trends, enjoy this week's CFL.ca Game Notes.

By the Numbers:

Close Calls: Other than the focus in 2012 on the record pace of kick return touchdowns, the trend that is most noticeable is the number of close games that have occurred through 11 weeks. Heading into Week 12, 16 games have been decided by four points or less, which is already one more than all of last season. There have also been more walk-off field goals in the last three weeks than there were all of last year.

Field Goal Carousel: The Toronto Argonauts have now used four different field goal kickers this season. Only once over a century of Canadian football has any team had five different players make a field goal in the same year. The last to do were the Tiger-Cats in 1987.

Chad Owens: The Flyin’ Hawaiian is attempting to do what no other CFL player has ever done; lead the league in kick return yards and receiving yards in the same season. He trails SJ Green by only 47 yards after 10 games.

Lulay’s Streak: BC QB Travis Lulay extended his streak to 21 games with at least one touchdown pass last week against the Alouettes. He has thrown 43 touchdowns during that span.

Record Pace: Edmonton’s JC Sherritt is on pace to register 155 tackles, which would break the record of 155, while Owens is on pace to register 4,405 combined yards, which would smash the record of 3,840 yards.

Hamilton 1K: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are just two games away from playing their 1,000th regular season game in team history. Game 999 is this week vs. Edmonton.

» Buy Week 12 Tickets
Friday, 9:00 pm ET: Blue Bombers at Stampeders
Saturday, 3:00 pm ET: Eskimos at Tiger-Cats
Saturday, 7:00 pm ET: Argonauts at Lions
Sunday, 1:00 pm ET: Roughriders at Alouettes

Top Performers:

S.J. Green: Montreal’s S.J. Green leads the CFL in receiving with 871 yards – but he also leads with 11 catches for 30+ yards, in 100-yard games with four, and in yards after catch with 392. He is also ranked third with 15 catches for clutch first downs.

Boatmen Ball-Hawks: After Toronto DB Ahmad Carroll picked off Ticats QB Henry Burris and returned it to the house on Labour Day, fellow DB Patrick Watkins refused to be outdone, intercepting Burris and taking it all the way to the endzone for a pick-six of his own. Will there be a third this week against the Lions?

Jon Cornish: Cornish leads the CFL in rushing with 827 yards - 147 yards ahead of any other player. The last Canadian running back to lead the league in rushing was former Ottawa Rough Rider Orville Lee in 1988. He is also on pace to threaten the record for most rushing yards by a Canadian set by Norm Kwong in 1956 with 1,437 yards.

Demond Washington: Last week saw the Winnipeg kick returner register his second punt return for a touchdown this season, returning a Chris Milo offering 82 yards for a major. He now sits third in combined return yards behind Chad Owens and Larry Taylor with 1,371 yards.

Throwing the Flag:

The most penalized team in the CFL continues to be the Toronto Argonauts, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in lost yards last week. They have now lost 1,024 yards on 111 penalties. The Saskatchewan Roughriders also remain the least penalized team in the league, having been flagged just 80 times for a loss of 586 yards.

Roster Moves:

There were plenty of transactions to discuss heading into Week 12.

On Thursday, the BC Lions welcomed back Solomon Elimimian to the lineup, after he concluded his attempt at cracking a roster south of the border.

Also on Thursday, the Edmonton Eskimos acquired fullback Darcy Brown in exchange for import DB Ricardo Colclough and the Esks 6th round pick in 2015.

The Eskimos remained busy throughout the week, trading kicker Derek Schiavone as well as their 1st and 4th round picks in the 2013 Draft to the Alouettes in exchange for kicker Brody McKnight.

Edmonton’s provincial rivals in Calgary were also active throughout the week, signing two potential difference makers via free agency.

The Stamps welcomed defensive lineman Stevie Baggs back to the CFL, and also added veteran journeyman Jason Armstead to fill in for injured returner Larry Taylor.

In other trade news, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats continued to bolster their defence, acquiring rush end Brandon Peguese from the BC Lions.

Finally, the Alouettes will welcome Brandon London back into the lineup. The receiver has been suffering from a lingering knee injury.

Milestone Watch:

After being limited to just 15 yards on three catches last week, Calgary receiver Nik Lewis needs just 77 yards to reach 10,000 on his illustrious career.