It seemed like a generous gesture to a fallen opponent.
While watching the Montreal-Saskatchewan game at his Vancouver hotel room, hours before his own game, Stampeders Nik Lewis saw Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Rob Bagg suffer yet another knee injury.
Lewis reached out to Bagg with a tweet saying how he didn’t like to see any player go down with an injury and reassuring Bagg that the football community would be praying for his recovery.
4 someone to go thru what Rob Bagg has been thru and to keep coming back is amazing. #GreatTalent. PRAYERS GOING OUT 4 U.
— Nik Lewis (@nikel18) August 17, 2013
Little did anyone guess that mere hours later, Lewis would be looking for some of those prayers enhance his own recovery.
When Lewis was tackled in the second quarter by the Lions Solomon Elimimian he fell awkwardly, breaking his fibula. He will be out of action for an extended period, but anticipates returning this season.
Lewis went to the Stampeders dressing room before returning to the sidelines with a walking boot and sporting crutches.
The site of a hobbled Lewis was a jarring scene for Stampeders fans.
Now in his 10th season with the Stampeders, Lewis has become the face of the franchise. 
His productivity has placed him second in Stampeders receiving annals, behind only Allan Pitts.
Lewis has caught passes in every one of his 164 games.
In short he has always been there for the Stampeders almost never succumbing to the injury ravages that keep other players out of the lineup.
Lewis’ absence undoubtedly had an impact on the Stampeders in their loss to B. C. His fiery, emotional leadership was missed by the Stampeders.
His leadership in making tough catches was also missed. The Stampeders receiving corps seemed to lose focus with Lewis sidelines. They did manage to pull in 23 balls but also had some would-be catches they wish they could have back.
The game was a bruising defensive battle. Teams combined for just 33 first downs and just 580 yards total offence. As a result, the anticipated showdown between Calgary’s Jon Cornish BC’s Andrew Harris never materialized.
Cornish finished the game with 73 yards rushing. Not a bad night but well below his season average. Meanwhile, his Lions counterpart, Harris was able to grind out just 56 yards in the game.
Calgary’s veteran defensive end Charleston Hughes was a standout on this night. All evening he was applying pressure to Lions Travis Lulay. He was also dropped into coverage for much of the night. That tactic paid off with an interception and 2 knockdowns.
The Stampeders forced the Lions into four turnovers, including three interceptions, keeping them constantly in the game.
One area that will require special attention during the Stamps brief preparation for their trip to Toronto is special teams coverage.
Leading up to the game there was much discussion about how BC’s fleet returner Tim Brown was struggling. We can safely report his struggles are over. Brown racked up 217 yards in returns, including at 96-yard kickoff return.
The Stampeders will have to quickly turn the page on this game. They have no choice as they have a trip to Toronto for a Friday game.
That trip is always a difficult one for the Stampeders but will be even more challenging without their emotional leader Lewis.
