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Jamall Lee is proving to be a chip off the old block.

The six-foot-one, 215-pound running back with the Bishop's Gaiters was Canadian university football's top rusher this season, running for 1,464 yards. He helped the Gaiters post a 5-3 record in the Quebec Conference to finish tied for second with Concordia, Bishop's first five-win season since 1995.

Lee's father is Orville Lee, the former Simon Fraser running back who was the first player taken in the 1988 CFL draft by the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Ottawa finished with a dismal 2-16 record in '88, but Lee was one of the club's bright spots. He led the CFL in rushing with 1,075 yards — he and Normie Kwong remain the lone Canadians ever to do so — and was named the league's top rookie and a finalist as its outstanding player.

Unfortunately, Lee was never able to match his rookie campaign. He ran for just 398 yards the following year in Ottawa before being dealt to Saskatchewan, where he served as a backup. He spent the '92 campaign with Hamilton, running for 416 yards and a career-high five TDs, before retiring.

Jamall Lee has enjoyed a banner '07 campaign. The native of Port Coquitlam, B.C., broke the conference rushing record of 1,050 yards set in 1969 by Larry Smith, the former Bishop's star and CFL commissioner who's now the president of the Montreal Alouettes.

Lee led the QUFL in rushing last year with 898 yards and finished third in the CIS behind Hec Crighton Trophy winner Daryl Stephenson of Windsor (1,140 yards) and UBC's Chris Ciezki (1,082 yards).

But CFL teams will have to wait for Jamall Lee, who's in his third year at Bishop's. Of more importance to him now is the Gaiters' division semifinal game Saturday against Concordia.

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STEGALL'S FUTURE: If this is indeed Milt Stegall's final CFL season, then it looks like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers starting slotback will fall short of becoming the most prolific receiver in league history.

Stegall enters Winnipeg's regular-season finale against Montreal with 14,644 career receiving yards, leaving him 247 short of Allen Pitts' CFL record of 14,891.

But there's no need to shed a tear for Stegall, whose name is already featured prominently in the CFL record book. He holds league records for career touchdowns (144), career receiving TDs (141), most TDs in a season (23 in 2002), most touchdown catches in a season (23 in 2002) and most yards per catch in a season (26.5 in 1997).

He's also the Bombers career receiving leader and holds the club mark for most receiving yards in a season (1,896 in 2002) and most career 1,000-yard seasons (10).

He was the CFL's outstanding player in 2002 and last year was named the receiver in the CFL's top passing tandem with Khari Jones while also being voted No. 15 in TSN's Top-50 players poll.

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STAGNANT OFFENCE: There's no denying the Toronto Argonauts are the CFL's hottest team.

The Argos have won six straight games and eight of their last nine to move atop the East Division standings. But they've done it with a stout defence and stellar special-teams play.

Over their 8-1 run, the Argos' offence has been outscored 106-98 by the club's defence and special teams.

And consider that both of Toronto's offensive touchdowns in Saturday's 16-8 home win over Winnipeg were both set up by turnovers recorded by special-teams player Ray Fontaine, who blocked a punt and returned it to the Bombers' one-yard line, then forced a Keith Stokes fumble that teammate Leron Mitchell recovered at the Winnipeg 20-yard line.

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ROAD WARRIORS: Maybe having to face the B.C. Lions at home during the CFL playoffs isn't a bad thing after all.

Consider that during the regular season B.C. had a CFL-best 7-1-1 road record. Entering its regular-season finale against Calgary, the Lions are tied for the league's best home record at 6-2 with Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.

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RECORD QUEST: B.C. Lions running back Joe Smith heads into Saturday's game against Calgary needing just one touchdown to tie the single-season record for rushing TDs of 19 set in 2000 by Mike Pringle.

Smith has scored 19 touchdowns this year, but that includes a receiving TD. Smith would need to score four TDs to tie Stegall's record of 23 established in '02.

Smith appears poised to capture his first CFL rushing title. He's run for a CFL-best 1,482 yards and has a 103-yard advantage over Winnipeg's Charles Roberts, who's doubtful for his club's game Friday against Montreal with a thigh bruise.

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Notes: Both Smith and Roberts enter the final week of the season having run for more yards than the CFL's top receiver has accumulated through the air. Winnipeg's Terrence Edwards is the league's leading pass catcher with 79 receptions for 1,279 yards and nine TDs . . . Another interesting race to watch will be the one between Winnipeg's Barrin Simpson and Hamilton's Zeke Moreno for most tackles. Simpson leads with 108, one more than Moreno . . . You've got to feel for Lions defensive back Ryan Phillips. He leads the CFL in interceptions (12) and return yards (299) and still doesn't get his team's nod for outstanding defensive player. That went to defensive end Cameron Wake, who leads the CFL in sacks with 16, marking the third straight year a Lions player has accomplished that feat. Defensive end Brent Johnson did it in both 2005 and '06 . . . Toronto's Dominique Dorsey has received a lot of recognition for his three special-teams TDs this year, but Lions returner Ian Smart has the distinction of leading the CFL in both kickoff returns and punt returns this season.