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Rob Murphy, the CFL's nastiest and most outspoken lineman, has a message for Toronto Argonauts head coach Bart Andrus.

Murphy returns to B.C. Place Stadium tonight to face the Lions, his first game as a visitor after signing with the Argos in February, and he wants his coach to run the football. Should teammate Jamal Robertson rush for 100 yards, Murphy fancies Toronto's chances of beating B.C., and denying Wally Buono his record-setting coaching victory.

"Bart has opened up to the theory of being more patient with the running game," Murphy said yesterday. "It pays dividends towards the latter part of the game, when a big offensive line starts leaning on other guys who are tired [and]when you have a power back like Jamal."

The trash-talking tackle is a proponent of blood, sweat, and playing to the echo of the whistle, so his reasons for backing the running game are no surprise. But on this thesis, Murphy is backed by stats as much as emotion. Toronto is 3-0 this year when Robertson rushes for 100 yards. He has 352 yards in three victories, and 302 yards in seven defeats.He carried 18 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a season-saving victory over Hamilton last week.

"I'll say it: 'I think we have the best running back in the league, hands down,'" said Murphy, who was twice the CFL's best lineman while with B.C. "[Robertson]punishes people and he makes people miss. You've just got to give that guy a shot and not abandon the run if we get stuffed. It's football. That happens."

Robertson said he is not a "got to have it" type, but like Murphy, he noticed an uptick in Andrus's commitment to the ground game in the win over Hamilton.

"It was a turning point for us," Robertson said. "Like a monkey off the back, but I'd say a gorilla or an elephant or any of those big animals. The weeks were getting slim."

Andrus, a rookie to the Canadian game, had adopted a rigid philosophy of not running when the opposing defence is stacked at the line of scrimmage. It resulted in two games where Toronto ran the ball just seven and eight times. The Argos average just 16 rushes a game, last in the CFL.

"If you're banging your head against the wall because they have too many people in the box, than you have to find a way to move the football. You just can't go out and be frustrated," Andrus said. "Our problems … have been more that we're behind in the game and we need to get [yardage]in bigger chunks, and we don't have the luxury of using the clock."

While Andrus searches for his fourth victory, Buono is hunting his 232nd, which would eclipse Don Matthews and establish a mark for CFL coaches.

B.C. is expecting a full dosage of Robertson tonight. Defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides said the recent film on Toronto reveals "more concepts familiar to our league," compared to their encounter on Aug. 14.

"They understand that they really need [to run]and I think he's become a lot more patient since we last played them," Benevides said. "They've adjusted."

Ultimately, Andrus envisions a thunder-and-lightning punch of Robertson and Dominique Dorsey, who is making his 2009 Argos debut after being cut by the NFL's Washington Redskins earlier this month. Dorsey will return kicks tonight, a specialty that made him the CFL's most outstanding special teams player in 2008.

In the future, Andrus plans to use Dorsey on offence, where the 5-foot-7 jitterbug had nearly 700 yards from scrimmage in 13 games last year.

"No doubt, he's a good change-up back," Andrus said. "This gives us a pretty good combination."

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