For veteran receiver Grant and Ticats, there’s really no place like home

Courtney Stephen has a confession to make.

Growing up in Brampton, Ont., the six-foot, 194-pound defensive back followed the Toronto Argonauts. That might not sound like a big deal, but Stephen is in his third season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Argos’ biggest and most hated rival.

“I hate to admit it but I definitely followed the Argos a lot when they had Mike (Pinball) Clemons and Damon Allen and guys like that,” Stephen said Thursday. “When I got drafted (in 2012 by Hamilton) it was one of those things where I just kind of had to hang up all my Double Blue stuff and switch over.”

But Stephen had an inkling early on he was destined to play professionally in Hamilton. During his days playing youth football, he sported the same black and gold colours he currently dons with the Ticats.

“So it’s nothing that’s too foreign to me,” he said with a chuckle.

Hamilton (2-2) makes its home debut Monday night hosting Toronto (3-1). The Ticats are 7-0 at Hortons Field since the facility opened last season, their first victory there being a 13-12 decision over the Argos on Sept. 1.

“Our fans have been eager for us to get home and play and they definitely know the rivalry and history between the two teams so it’s going to be a special atmosphere,” Stephen said. “It’s going to be somewhat of a playoff atmosphere just given the amount of familiarity there is between the two teams.

“The players and coaches are looking forward to it and I think it’s definitely something the fans should look forward to.”

Receiver Bakari Grant, in his fifth season with the Ticats, said Hamilton-Toronto games quickly become grudge matches.

“There’s going to be some hard hits,” he said. “We don’t like them, they don’t like us and that’s the way it is.”

Tim Hortons Field was the soccer venue for the Pan American Games, which concluded Sunday. That forced the Ticats to play their first four regular-season games on the road.

While hardly ideal, it was nothing new for the Ticats.

Two years ago, Hamilton played all of its home games at the University of Guelph while Tim Hortons Field was being built. The Ticats opened the 2014 campaign with four straight out-of-town contests and played their first three home encounters at McMaster University before finally moving into Tim Hortons Field.

“Luckily a lot of guys haven’t known any different . . . we’ve kind of always had that adversity to deal with,” Grant said. “I think it’s kind of good for our team this year to be able to put together some wins on the road and see how it is to play on the road.

“I don’t think it’s been a bad thing.”

Stephen agrees.

“I kind of like the adversity of going on the road and battling in enemy territory,” he said. “Being a competitor, I’m just excited to go out there and get one more opportunity to do what I love.”

But for Grant and Stephen, there’s no place like home. Stephen said the Ticats feed off the energy of their rabid fans when playing at Tim Horton Field.

“We tend to think we can play anywhere with anybody,” Stephen said. “But when you come home and you’ve got 25-30,000 screaming fans on your side it’s hard to disappoint those people.

“We love to come here and play and put on a show for everybody.”

The Ticats will now enjoy a nice stretch at home. They’ll be at Tim Hortons Field for three straight contests and six of their next eight, a terrific opportunity for the defending East Division champions to solidify their standing in the conference.

“Anytime you play at home you want to get wins,” Grant said. “I think we have a great home-field advantage and we need to take advantage of that so we can get on a roll.

“I think the early road games have been a test for us and I think we responded well to some early losses. Being home is going to give us that energy, that little spark we want going into the back nine.”