Three Stars: Henry Burris, Chris Rainey and Deon Lacey top Week Thirteen

Welcome to another edition of the Three Stars, our regular look at each week's top performers on offence, defence and special teams. Here are the Three Stars from Week Thirteen's games.

First star/offensive player of the week: Henry Burris, quarterback, Ottawa Redblacks: The 40-year-old Burris, in his 15th CFL season, had one of the best performances of his entire career Sunday against Saskatchewan, one of his former teams. The Temple product lit up the Roughriders for 477 passing yards and two touchdowns, and he did so efficiently, completing 35 of his 45 passes (77.8 per cent) with no interceptions. Burris didn't have a lot of support on the ground, either, as running back Jeremiah Johnson was held to 29 yards on 10 carries, so his aerial efforts were crucial to the Redblacks' 30-27 win. He spread the ball around well, finding seven different receivers, and although he had two fumbles, those were only a small blemish on an otherwise-outstanding day. Burris is having one of the greatest seasons of his remarkable career, posting 3,298 yards and 12 touchdowns to date against just seven interceptions with a 97.4 passer rating and a career-high 69.4 per cent completion rate. His improvement (partly fueled by the better receivers they've put around him, but partly thanks to his own play) is a critical part of why Ottawa's gone from a 2-16 campaign last year to a 7-4 mark so far this year, and it's why he's in the conversation for Most Outstanding Player.

(Honourable mentions: Chris Williams, WR, Ottawa; Eric Rogers, WR, Calgary; Lavelle Hawkins, WR, B.C.)

Second star/special teams player of the week: Chris Rainey, punt returner/kick returner, B.C. Lions: Rainey turned in a huge performance for B.C. Friday against Calgary, picking up a 103-yard touchdown on a punt return and another 103-yard touchdown on a kickoff return. On the day, he had 186 yards on five kick returns and 147 on six punt returns. That wasn't enough to let the Lions beat the Stampeders, but his performance was a key positive sign for them. The Florida alum is in his second CFL season, but his first with B.C.; he started with Montreal last fall, but was cut by the Alouettes during this year's training camp. He has a remarkable story, from being born in prison and overcoming a tough upbringing to succeed in college, the NFL and now the CFL, but he's also controversial thanks to a 2010 stalking charge and a 2013 domestic battery charge (which saw him cut by the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers). Rainey has clear skill, though, and he's seemed to keep out of trouble in the CFL so far. If he can continue that, he may be a valuable piece for the Lions.

(Honourable mentions: Stefan Logan, PR/KR, Montreal; Boris Bede, P/K, Montreal; Brett Maher, P, Ottawa.)

Third star/defensive player of the week: Deon Lacey, linebacker, Edmonton Eskimos: Lacey was a big part of Edmonton's 25-18 road win over Hamilton Saturday, recording three tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. The West Alabama product only had five tackles and one sack on the year heading into this game, so he managed to boost his stats significantly here. He's mostly figured on special teams so far (where he has 17 tackles on the season), but showed this week that he can be an important defensive contributor as well. The Eskimos' defence is a dominant overall unit, and Lacey played a key role in that dominance this week against the Tiger-Cats.

(Honourable mentions: Keon Raymond, LB, Calgary; John Bowman, DE, Montreal; Aaron Grymes, DB, Edmonton.)

Bonus star/Canadian player of the week: Sam Giguere, wide receiver, Montreal Alouettes: Giguere had four catches for a game-high 66 yards and a touchdown in Montreal's 35-14 thumping of Winnipeg Sunday. The Sherbrooke grad also was effective on the ground, picking up 32 yards on two rushing plays. He's in his fourth CFL season following a four-year NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants, and he's in his second campaign with the Alouettes. He hasn't put up huge numbers to date, but Sunday's game showed he can still be a capable receiver in this league and a threat on rushing plays as well.

(Honourable mentions: Rob Bagg, SB, Saskatchewan; Brett Maher, P, Ottawa; Rene Paredes, K, Calgary.)

Watch 55-Yard Line for next week's Three Stars, and if you'd like to nominate a candidate during the week's games, contact me via Twitter or e-mail. Thanks for reading!