Five early storylines ahead of the West Final

Following our look at the East Final, here are five early storylines ahead of Sunday's West Final between the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

1. Kory Sheets versus Jon Cornish: This game features the league's top two running backs this year in terms of rushing yards collected, Calgary's Jon Cornish (1,813) and Saskatchewan's Kory Sheets (1,598). They're also two players who have a bit of a rivalry, with Sheets saying earlier this year that he was "a better back" than his Calgary counterpart despite Cornish's superior yardage totals and yards-per-carry average (7.0 versus 5.6). Calgary and Saskatchewan finished #1 and #2 respectively in rushing yards per game (141.5 and 128.8 respectively) and rushing first downs (160 and 141), so expect the ground game to be a big part of the plan for both teams Sunday.

2. The cold: Just as expected, the cold weather in Regina was an important factor in last week's semifinal, with many of the key plays coming on the ground thanks to the difficulty of passing and catching a cold ball. While both teams still did well through the air, their aerial yardage totals (and pass attempt numbers) were far lower than normal. The same may happen Sunday; Yahoo!'s weather forecast for Calgary has a high of -9 Celsius and a low of -16 with a mix of sun and clouds. The Riders and Stampeders both like to run the ball anyway, but that tendency could be further emphasized in a cold game.

3. The health of the Stampeders' receivers: Star Calgary slotback Nik Lewis broke his leg in August, but has been working his way back to health (when not getting fined by the league for Twitter commentary). Recently, he's been taking part in practice. He's still unlikely to participate Sunday, but can't be ruled out. Meanwhile, the rest of the Stampeders' receiving corps, one of the most injured units anywhere in the league this season, is finally starting to look more like a solid lineup than a MASH unit. Joe West and Maurice Price are both expected to be good to go, and they'll be likely joined by Jabari Arthur and impressive September pickup Jeff Fuller. Even without Lewis, that's a pretty good group. West is still dealing with a problematic shoulder injury, though, and Price has battled numerous injuries this year. We'll see how they do Sunday.

4. The length of Kevin Glenn's leash: Glenn has been reasonably impressive this year when healthy, completing 66.6 per cent of his passes for 2,710 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and he's going to be the Stampeders' starter on Sunday. However, both Drew Tate (67.8 per cent completion rate, 755 yards, five touchdowns and an interception) and Bo Levi Mitchell (69.6 per cent completion rate, 1,156 yards, 10 touchdowns against three interceptions) have flashed higher upside this year, and Calgary has done well with both. If Glenn struggles early, will Stampeders' head coach John Hufnagel stick with him, or will he go to one of his promising backups?

5. Alex Hall versus Charleston Hughes: The Roughriders made this year's most notable midseason trade, bringing in defensive end Alex Hall from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in early October. At the time they picked him up, Hall led the CFL with 15 sacks. However, he only notched two down the stretch with Saskatchewan, and was passed by Calgary's Charleston Hughes (who finished with 18) for the league lead. Which high-profile import pass rusher will have more of an impact on the West Final?