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Asked rhetorically by Jakubec if it was the best catch of his pro career, White replied. “Yeah, so far, definitely. Felt good, and hoping to make more.”

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Outshining all receivers on Sunday was 25-year-old Delta, B.C., native Tyson Philpot, who led the Alouettes attack with 12 catches for 198 yards.

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“Canadians can ball, too,” said White.

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White, who had seven catches for 73 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Ottawa’s two preseason wins over Montreal, has become a red zone favourite of Maier’s while moving to the slot position.

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“I’m such a believer in that kid, man,” Maier said. “I’m telling you, like I watched his college career, I knew about him when he came into the league, and I’ll always be a believer in him. I think he’s a heck of a player when he believes in himself, and he really carries a certain swagger. He’s one of the best guys we’ve got. So I’m really happy that he got to feel that today, and he’ll just keep building on it.”

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Making the move from wide receiver isn’t as easy as you might think.

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“He’s got to be really smart,” Maier said of White. “He plays the inside slot to the field, so he’s got to be somebody that understands pressure zones, man coverages, leverages …. he’s got to be in tune with me on all the little stuff that defences might throw at us. Luckily for me, he’s a naturally smart kid, man, he’s going to be really good.”

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Not good enough, clearly.

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But then that’s been a theme through the first four weeks of the CFL season, as teams have already scored 869 points for an average of 31 points per game.

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Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander connected on 22-of-30 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns, but all but four of the completions went to Philpot and Tyler Snead.

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Had they done a better job on those two, the Redblacks might already have that first win.

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Montreal also had 124 net rushing yards to Ottawa’s 38, with Stevie Scott III pulling off a damaging 31-yard run in the fourth quarter.

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Bennett Williams had another strong game with a big early-game pass knockdown to go along with five defensive tackles and two on special teams, while Nyles Morgan once again led Ottawa with nine defensive tackles. But the veteran middle linebacker also took another costly, drive-extending penalty.

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Dinwiddie’s hope of establishing a running game to set up some deep balls didn’t exactly come to fruition, as Greg Bell had nine carries for 40 yards in his second outing with the team.

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Looking to click in was the coach’s plan to reduce his playbook, which usually has “around 90” different variations, to 40-something plays for this game.

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But the up-tempo approach in the second half made the biggest difference.

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“When we’ve gone fast football, run our no huddle, that’s when we’ve had success,” said Dinwiddie. “So that’s kind of who we’re going to have to be. You don’t want to do it too often, because a quick two-and-outs and the defence is right back on the field, but that’s just who we are right now. We’re gonna have to do that, and the defence is gonna have to rise to the occasion as well.”

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Said Maier: “You could definitely like find some silver lining, but the fact of the matter is that we’re 0-3, and we had a chance to win a football game, and we just fell short. But it’s a long season, and yeah, if we’re getting better, then that’s something that we can feel decent about, but until we win a football game, I think it’s gonna be the same feeling after this.

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“We’re a process-driven team,” he added. “We’re a new team with a new coach and a new system, and I actually appreciate that process-driven mentality. With that being said, how can we evaluate what we did today and say, okay, now what are we going to put into our process to build on what we did today? Because if we don’t, then who cares? That’s a waste of time, right? But if we can look and really dig deep and find out what we were better at today and what gives us a fighting chance, then that’s what process-driven is, and we can keep strengthening that, and hopefully we’re a better team next week.”

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