O’Leary: Reilly looking forward to facing former teammate Bighill

WINNIPEG — One of the CFL’s best match ups will take place on Thursday night in Winnipeg. Mike Reilly, the quarterback of the Edmonton Eskimos, will peak over his towering offensive line and into the eyes of the quarterback of the Bombers’ defence, Adam Bighill.

Punishing hits and the threat of forced forced fumbles aside, Reilly has missed Bighill over the last year. Once upon a time, the two were teammates at Central Washington. That’s where Reilly first came to appreciate his linebacker.

“Biggie’s a great player. I knew that from the time we were playing college football together. He was always considered undersized, if you can believe that, for his position,” Reilly said of Bighill, who’s now five-foot-10 and 230 pounds, freshly returned from a year-long stint in the NFL.

“He’s a guy that just works incredibly hard.”

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Adam Bighill will make his regular season debut with the Blue Bombers on Thursday night (BlueBombers.com)

After Reilly joined the BC Lions in 2010, he helped open the door for Bighill in the CFL.

The two ended up on the Lions together for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. When Reilly went to Edmonton in 2013, Bighill’s relentless pursuit of Reilly began. He’s laid a few big hits on Reilly over the last few years and Reilly has even managed to return the favour.

“Physically he’s talented, but he understands the game,” Reilly said. “It’s always a challenge to play against a guy like that but it’s also something I look forward to.

“I tell you guys all the time I like playing against the best and he certainly is one of the best, he’s had a great run so far. Not having him in the league last year was disappointing for me. I was excited for him to get his opportunity in the NFL, but I liked playing against him because it’s always a challenge.”

Week 1 of a team’s season is always full of unknowns. There are many in this Bombers-Esks game (hello, Chris Streveler), but seeing how a proven commodity in the league will impact Winnipeg’s defence is a big one.

“It’s going to be a little bit strange because he’s in Winnipeg and not BC,” Reilly said, “but he fits into their system very well. Certainly he’s going to present a challenge to us as is the rest of their defence.”