We're all set for an exciting day of CFL conference final action. First off, it's the Montreal Alouettes hosting the Toronto Argonauts at 1 p.m. Eastern. We'll see if Anthony Calvillo and the Montreal offence can put up points against Toronto's terrific defence. Part of that may come down to if they're able to run the ball with Avon Cobourne. On offence, Cory Boyd should be able to put up yardage on the ground against the Alouettes, but the question is if Cleo Lemon will be able to give them anything through the air. Special teams may also factor into the outcome; the Argonauts feature the league's best returner in Chad Owens, while the Alouettes will rely on Tim Maypray after unexpectedly cutting Larry Taylor this week. Montreal should get a strong punting performance from Damon Duval, but their kicking game is more questionable, while Toronto's Noel Prefontaine is solid in both areas. The 56,000-plus screaming fans at Montreal's Olympic Stadium (pictured above) may have a role in

Last week's CIS conference championships set up two interesting national semi-finals Saturday. We'll again borrow the Monday's Point After format to break them down.

Uteck Bowl: Laval 13, Western 11: The top-ranked Rouge et Or had been dominant all season and were expected by many to roll to an easy victory here. However, the Mustangs put up an incredible fight, particularly on defence. They held Laval out of the end zone all game despite some lousy field position, forcing the Rouge et Or to rely on a solid performance from kicker Christopher Milo, who was named player of the game. Milo hit four out of five field goals and scored all of Laval's points.

The Rouge et Or turned in a strong defensive performance of their own, however. They kept Western's top-ranked rushing offence reasonably in check, with Nathan Riva only picking up 17 yards on three carries and Jerimy Hipperson held to 85 yards on 18 carries. Mustangs' quarterback Donnie Marshall hurt them with his feet, rushing 12

The Playoff Preview series continues with looks at tomorrow's games (which will be live-blogged here). Earlier today, we previewed the East Division final between the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes. Next, the West Division final between the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow.

This was probably the West Division final most anticipated from the start of this season, as Calgary and Saskatchewan were the class of the division last year and returned most of their key players. However, it's flipped locations from last season; in 2009, both went 10-7-1, but Saskatchewan won the tiebreaker, hosted the West Final and knocked off the Stampeders to get to the Grey Cup. That marked the second-straight season where the team that hosted the West Final won it, as Calgary defeated B.C. at home in 2008 to move on and eventually claim the Grey Cup. This year, Calgary had the stronger regular season and put up a 13-5 record to earn the

The Playoff Preview series continues with looks at tomorrow's games (which will be live-blogged here). First up, the East Division Final between the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes.

At the start of this season, it would have been tough to see the Argonauts making it this far. They were coming off a 3-15 season and a substantial off-season housecleaning under new head coach Jim Barker (pictured at right after last week's semi-final victory), and they didn't have much in the way of experienced CFL quarterbacks on their roster. Yet, they've somehow found ways to win and they're one victory away from the Grey Cup. Barker has them channeling Journey and demonstrating incredible belief and confidence. We'll have to wait and see if that's enough to get them by the Alouettes this weekend, though. Let's get to the matchups.

Alouettes' offence: Five U2 concerts (out of five)

There's a lot to like about Montreal's offence. They put up 521 points this year, second only to Calgary and

Welcome to this week's edition of Secondhand Eight, your one-stop shop for all the best CFL stories from around the web. As always, feel free to send me tips for next week's edition via e-mail or Twitter. Enjoy!

This week's edition starts in Montreal, but not with the current Alouettes. It was announced today that legendary former Alouette Tony Proudfoot (pictured above in August) would be the 2010 recipient of the Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award. Proudfoot won two Grey Cups with the Alouettes and was named a league all-star twice; he also played with B.C., has worked as a colour commentator on Alouettes' radio broadcasts and has been heavily involved with the Montreal community. He's a deserving winner of one of the CFL's greatest awards.

Proudfoot's story isn't entirely a happy one, though. In 2007, he announced he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or "Lou Gehrig's Disease". It's a horrible neurogenative disease, and it's terminal within six years in 90 per cent of

The CFL's West and East division finals will both be played Sunday, but in vastly different conditions. In Calgary, it's expected to be snowy, icy and cold (much like it was before last year's Grey Cup, when the above photo of Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant practicing in the snow at McMahon Stadium was taken). That could favour the Stampeders, given the strength of their running game, but the Riders have been practicing in chilly conditions themselves. This video gives you a pretty good look at what conditions in Calgary look like at the moment, and it seems likely they'll be similar on the weekend:

The Weather Network mentions that temperatures at McMahon Stadium hit -16 degrees Celsius today, which is more like -30 when you factor in the winds there. According to their report, things aren't expected to change much by Sunday. That might pose particular difficulties for the kickers and punters involved in the game, including CFL all-star Burke Dales:

Burke Dales is the

There's been a maelstrom of discussion in the last week of a head coach giving up that role to focus on the personnel side, but it has been centred on the B.C. Lions' Wally Buono. Today saw no developments on that front, but rather a similar story breaking in a different CFL city. It was reported by The Regina Leader-Post, TSN and The Globe and Mail that Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller (pictured above during Sunday's semi-final) may move into a front-office role after this season.

The reason for the speculation appears to be a clause in Miller's contract. Here's Murray McCormick of the Leader-Post:

Miller's contract includes a clause where he could relinquish his duties as head coach in the next year or so to concentrate on football operations. If that does take place, Miller feels confident the transition would be a smooth one for the Riders and for himself.

"If I weren't to appear on any given day, it would move forward without a hitch,'' Miller said. "I'm proud and happy with

The Montreal Alouettes released kick returner Larry Taylor (pictured at right returning a missed field goal in last year's Grey Cup) today, and the timing is very unusual. Taylor was named the league's top special-teams player just last year before heading to the NFL. He rejoined the Alouettes last month just before the playoffs, and started an Oct. 29 game against Toronto before leaving with a hip pointer. He didn't play in the season finale, but neither did most of the Alouettes' key players, and most expected him to be ready to go as the Als' primary kick returner for the playoffs this week against Toronto.

This decision would be unusual even if it happened at the start of the year or in the middle of the regular season. It's not as if Taylor's shown that he's lost his ability, as he hasn't really received any significant playing time yet, and it's not as if they have a surplus of other options. Rookie Tim Maypray hasn't exactly lit the world on fire as a returner, especially on