Toronto Argonauts hope Makai Polk can start fast in must-win Labour Day Classic

Labour Day in Hamilton is never just another game. Ask anyone who has ever worn Double Blue or Black and Gold: it’s a date that stirs something different in the gut.

For the Toronto Argonauts, this year’s Classic feels like a gut check. They walk into Tim Hortons Field suddenly having their depth at receiver being tested, and are leaning on a familiar face to remind them of who they are.

That face is Makai Polk who made his return after stint with the Atlanta Falcons. If his first week of practice is any indication, he hasn’t missed a beat.

“Definitely going to be easy to pick up where I left off,” he said after practice this week. “We got everything to gain at this point in the season. Being part of something big on this run feels really good—and we’re hungry.”

Well the Argos will need to be the hungrier team once again when they step on the field with their playoff lives hanging in the balance.

The QEW rivalry tends to reward the hungrier team, the one that embraces the noise and nastiness that comes with stepping onto Hamilton’s turf.

Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie knows it, too.

“It’s going to be a great environment. Our players love playing there,” he said. “When you get into that stadium and you’re hearing some things they’re saying to you, it gets you ramped up a little bit.”

Emotion only carries you so far, and it's important to not let it lead to a loss of composure. Labour Day Classics have been famous for turning on mistakes—an ill-timed interception, a blown coverage, a kick return no one saw coming. Toronto can’t afford to lean on adrenaline alone.

Especially not with Damonte Coxie still sidelined and DaVaris Daniels joining him. This will now force Dinwiddie to juggle bodies and he's had to just to get through practice.

“We only got seven healthy receivers right now,” the coach admitted. “Makai has picked it up the first week, it’s like he hadn’t left. He brings big plays—he can catch it underneath and take it the distance, and he can go up and get it too.”

The Argos will need every bit of that.

To give the Argos credit, the offence showed no issues in their 52–34 victory over the B.C., Lions and the air-raid began with Nick Arbuckle, putting together a career night. He threw for 430 yards—no interceptions—and accounted for four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).

Jake Herslow and Dejon Brissett were Arbuckle’s favorite targets against the Lions. Herslow torched the B.C. for a career-high 149 receiving yards, hauling in not one but two big touchdown receptions. The 70-yard bomb late in the game practically sealed the deal.

Meanwhile, Brissett was electric too—118 yards, including a 57-yard strike that showed his value as a versatile playmaker.

What lifted the Argos in that game was how the team responded when the game threatened to slip away. Trailing 14-6 early, they hit back with Arbuckle taking matters into his own hand and a Benjie Franklin pick-six that swung momentum.

Now the Argos need to remember that Hamilton live for the Labour Day Classic. From the crowd to the players feeding off its energy, the Ticats have made the Classic their own theatre.

Hamilton will have that earlier dominant performance in Toronto to look back on and believe they are primed for another big game especially on their home field.

The Argos are also facing a tough choice at running back. Dinwiddie admitted he’s still deciding whether to dress one or two tailbacks against Hamilton, knowing that he may need extra legs at receiver.

Don't be surprised if the Argos go with just one running back and have Kevin Mital take snaps at running back or whoever the Argos deem can handle pass protection in the backfield.

“We’ll see. I got to make a decision there, right? We might need the extra legs of receivers,” Dinwiddie said. “If need be, we can even put Kevin [Mital] back there—he’s comfortable doing it."

Even in down years, this game can flip a season. For Toronto, it’s a chance to prove they can still dictate the East despite the dents in their roster and tough start.

And that’s why having Polk back in the fold matters. Not just because of the catches he can make, but because of the statement he represents: that this team can lose stars to injury but patch itself together, and still walk into Hamilton ready to fight.

Polk put it best himself.

“The motivation never really leaves when you love something. My little brothers, my parents, they do a lot for me," Polk said. "That’s my motivation. Until I fall out of love with the game, I’ll always be motivated.”

That’s the kind of energy Toronto needs on Monday. Family pride. Team pride. Rivalry pride.

If the Argos can do that in Hamilton, then maybe, just maybe, we’ll look back at this Labour Day as the day Toronto’s season truly turned around.