Chris Smith of the Alouettes tackles Calvin McCarty on Oct. 31. (Jimmy Jeong/Canadian Press)

The way the CFL all-star voters had it, the Montreal Alouettes are all about the offensive attack.

The team that gave up only 443 points this season — second best in the league behind the Calgary Stampeders' 420 — did not get a single defensive player elected to the all-star team, but five made it from their league-best offence.

"The fact of the matter is, all-stars are voted by fans, coaches and media," Alouettes defensive tackle Keron Williams said Thursday. "We're in a unique situation where we can play for a championship, so before individual accolades come up, this is at the forefront."

That would be the East Division final, in which the Alouettes play host to the crossover Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday at Olympic Stadium, with the winner advancing to the Grey Cup game eight days later at the same venue.

The Eskimos, who finished fourth in the West despite having only one win fewer than the East-leading Alouettes, had only one all-star — defensive back Jason Goss — despite their explosive attack.

"That's voted-on awards," said Montreal general manager Jim Popp. "We don't get caught up in that.

"Our feeling is we have players we can win with and they're good for our organization. It's about being a team and accomplishing your goals. Everyone's goal is to win their division and we did that. And have home-field advantage…And now it comes down to winning that match to get you into the Grey Cup."

The spotlight in the Edmonton-Montreal clash is on quarterbacks Ricky Ray and Anthony Calvillo, the CFL's top two passers this season, but the real pressure may be on the defences.

Montreal has done well to stop the run, but the numbers aren't great against the pass, while the opposite holds true for the Eskimos. The weapons Ray and Calvillo bring to a game suggest a high-scoring division final.

But the Alouettes' defence had its moments this season, especially a two-game homestand in September when it held Edmonton and Saskatchewan without a touchdown.

In a 40-4 win over the Eskimos on Sept. 21, Montreal chased Ray in favour of Jason Maas and recorded a total of six quarterback sacks. The Alouettes scored on their first six possessions, while three receivers had more than 100 yards through the air and Dahrran Diedrick and Mike Imoh combined for 131 yards on the ground.

"Coming off a tough loss to Calgary the week before, it was our mindset to go out and execute everything to detail," said Williams. "Getting pressure on Ricky Ray really helped us."

The Alouettes don't expect such a smooth ride this time, particularly since the Eskimos beat a watered-down Montreal lineup 37-14 in the final regular season game in Edmonton.

"Going against Ricky Ray, you've always got your work cut out for you," added Williams, who led the team with 10 sacks this season. "He can pick any defence apart.

"He's very sneaky. I wouldn't say elusive. Kerry Joseph is more elusive. But his speed is very deceptive. Like in our last game, you think you have him and he just weasels out of it some way. So it's not just one or two persons, it's the whole front that has to try to get a piece of him."

'I do take things to heart now'

Calvillo and his two favourite targets, Ben Cahoon and Jamel Richardson, were named to the all-star squad along with two stalwarts of the offensive line, centre Bryan Chiu and guard Scott Flory.

There was lively debate on whether Calvillo or Calgary's Henry Burris, who plays in the tougher West Division, should be considered the league's Outstanding Player and, by extension, an all-star.

"Toss-up," said Calvillo. "I remember sitting at home with my wife, she's going to be biased of course, but she said 'you're going to get it.'

"I said honestly, out of all the years, this is a toss-up. Henry has had an awesome year, leading that team in the west and getting first place. It's out of our control, but I do take things to heart now. I appreciate being on that list."

For both Calvillo and coach Marc Trestman, it is less a question of which defence plays better and more of which team controls the ball and keeps the other side's offence on the bench.

"Both offences will say the same thing — 36 minutes is going to be big here," he said of the time-of-possession goal in a 60-minute game. "Whoever has the ball for 36 minutes, it's going to be big with the two quarterbacks in this game.

"I'm sure that's what [Edmonton coach] Danny Maciocia is saying to his team. That's the type of situation you're in any week, but especially this week because of the quick-strike capability of the Eskimos."

'It's never bad to have a bye'

The Alouettes had a bye to the division final, while the Eskimos beat Winnipeg in the crossover semifinal last weekend. They were scheduled to arrive in Montreal late Thursday afternoon.

Trestman had his team on the field for two long practices last week, then three more on-field workouts on the freshly installed soft turf at Olympic Stadium this week.

"It's never bad to have a bye," he said. "You embrace the opportunity to get rest and celebrate the fact that you've been successful, not all the way but to some degree, in your season.

"And you just deal with it."

Trestman said this week that Mathieu Proulx will start at safety in place of Etienne Boulay. He will also have Diedrick, Avon Cobourne, Reggie Hunt and Mark Estelle back from injuries as well as kicker Damon Duval, who was out due to a kidney stone. Defensive back Randee Drew and sixth offensive lineman Luke Fritz are out with injuries.