Hamilton plans to pressure Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo (13) who was sacked 50 times in 13 starts last season. (Ian Barrett/Canadian Press)

It's shaping up to be a big Thursday night in Hamilton, site of the 2008 Canadian Football League season opener.

It marks the first time in 31 years that the first game will be played at Ivor Wynne Stadium, but there are plenty of firsts worth noting.

• The first full season with Casey Printers as the Tiger-Cats' undisputed starting quarterback.
• The chance for Hamilton to pick up its first season-opening home win in six years.
• The Ticats' regular-season debut of general manager Bob O'Billovich, offensive co-ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille and defensive co-ordinator Denny Creehan
• The CFL debut of Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman.
• The first game back in Hamilton for former GM Marcel Desjardins and receiver/kick-returner Jason Armstead.

A milestone could also be reached if veteran Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo can pass for 205 yards.

The 35-year-old is third on the all-time CFL list with 53,050 yards. Damon Allen leads with 72,381, followed by one-time Tiger-Cat Danny McManus (53,255).

Fielding quicker, more athletic and bigger defensive linemen than last year's crew, Hamilton will make the 15-year CFL veteran its primary target.

"The key to [Calvillo] is that he likes to sit in the pocket," Ticats middle linebacker Zeke Moreno told the Hamilton Spectator on Wednesday. "We're going to try to get him out of his comfort zone by bringing pressure, playing downhill hard-nosed football."

A Tiger-Cat in the mid-1990s, Calvillo is used to absorbing punishment. He was sacked 50 times in 13 starts last season before leaving the team to be with his wife, Alexia Kontolemos, who was diagnosed with cancer.

In all, Montreal signal-callers were taken down 68 times, a CFL high.

"As much as they gave up sacks," Calvillo said of his offensive linemen, "I wasn't doing a good job of getting rid of the ball."

Working off the rust

Calvillo could be a little rusty as he only played a little more than a quarter in the team's two pre-season games.

"I've got a lot of reps during [training] camp, even though I didn't play a whole lot in the pre-season," said Calvillo, who won't have his favourite target, slotback Ben Cahoon, to bail him out of trouble. The latter is among 11 Alouettes on the injured list.

Calvillo tossed three touchdown passes in Montreal's 27-19 Thanksgiving victory over the visiting Ticats last Oct. 8. Three of the Alouettes' eight wins last season came against Hamilton.

Montreal's 8-10 finish represented the first losing season since it returned to the CFL in 1996.

Meanwhile, Charlton Keith and Canadian Nautyn McKay-Loescher (team-high 11 sacks a year ago) will anchor a rejigged Hamilton defensive front four. Dominic Lewis is the newcomer to the line, while fellow tackle Darrell Adams started two games last year.

Printers, Lumsden offensive threats

Leading the linebacking corps is Zeke Moreno, the Ticats' 2007 nominee for CFL outstanding defensive player and most outstanding player honours after he posted a league-best 114 defensive tackles.

Printers and running back Jesse Lumsden, who topped all ball carriers with a 7.6-yard average last season, gives Hamilton dual threats on offence.

Coming off a 3-15 campaign, the Tiger-Cats — sporting 20 new players — will be counting on improved play from Printers, who arrived halfway through last season after an unsuccessful stint in the National Football League.

In eight games, he completed 68 of 133 passes for 774 yards but didn't look much like the quarterback that was named the CFL's outstanding player in 2004.

"We're a football team that is hungry," said Printers, who will have former Toronto Argonaut receiver Tony Miles on his side this season. "These [new] guys are hungry to get their names out there. They are hungry to make plays."