Three Stars: Jon Cornish, Rennie Curran and Rene Paredes top Week 16′s best showings

It's another edition of our weekly Three Stars series, examining Week 16's top offensive, defensive, special teams and Canadian players.

First star/offensive player of the week: Jon Cornish, running back, Calgary Stampeders: Apparently, criticizing Cornish isn't the best way to stop him. After Saskatchewan RB Kory Sheets said he was better than Cornish, Cornish went out and proved him wrong again, collecting 130 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries Friday night en route to his second-straight First Star nod. That's an average of 8.7 yards per carry, which is even better than the remarkable 7.2 average he's put up this year. He also added three catches for 35 yards. Perhaps most impressively, that came against the formidable B.C. Lions' defence, which entered the week allowing the fewest yards of offence per game (310.5), the second-fewest rushing yards per game (86.6) and the second-lowest gain per rush (4.9 yards per carry). B.C.'s defensive numbers won't look as good after this week thanks to what Cornish did. He's been a consistent threat for the Stampeders all season and is a key reason why they're atop the CFL with a 12-3 record.

(Honourable mentions: C.J. Gable, RB, Hamilton; Nick Moore, SB, B.C.; Kory Sheets, RB, Saskatchewan.)

Second star: Rennie Curran, linebacker, Edmonton Eskimos: It was a dismal week for the Eskimos' offence, as Edmonton fell 14-9 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders Saturday, but their defence at least can hold their heads high. One of the most crucial parts in their solid defensive effort was Curran, who flew all over the field from his middle linebacker position, recording a week-high 11 tackles and adding an interception. With 2012 CFL most outstanding defensive player J.C. Sherritt out indefinitely thanks to refracturing his thumb, Curran had big shoes to fill, but he pulled it off. If he can keep playing like this, he may be an important piece for the Eskimos going forward.

(Honourable mentions: Tearrius George, DT, Saskatchewan; Adam Bighill, LB, B.C.; Chris Randle, DB, Calgary.)

Third star: Rene Paredes, kicker, Calgary Stampeders: Paredes has consistently been the CFL's best field-goal kicker this year, averaging a league-high 93.8 per cent success rate, and he impressed again Friday against B.C., making four of five field goal attempts and adding four conversions for 16 points. Paredes succeeds in volume as well as percentage, too; he has a league-high 182 kicking points on the year, with second-place Montreal kicker Sean Whyte trailing him by 29. He's been a crucial part of Calgary's success this season.

(Honourable mentions: Clifton Smith, PR/KR, Calgary; Sean Whyte, P/K, Montreal; Rob Maver, P, Calgary.)

Bonus star/Canadian player of the week: Jon Cornish, running back, Calgary Stampeders: Cornish gets another nod here, and that's appropriate considering how he broke his own season-long record for rushing yards by a Canadian Friday. With three games left, Cornish has already topped the 1,457 yards he put up last year and extended the record to 1,545 yards. It's also notable that while his showing last season was impressive and record-deserving in its own right, this year is a more thorough triumph over Norm Kwong's previous record of 1,437 yards. In 1956, when Kwong set that record for Edmonton, West Division teams only played 16 regular-season games instead of the 18 they now play. Cornish has now passed Kwong in even less games, and that's quite impressive.

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