# 2003 BC Lions season

The 2003 BC Lions finished in fourth place in the West Division with an 11–7 record, but they made the playoffs because of the "cross-over" rule. They appeared in the East-Semi Final.
During the off-season, Bob Ackles engineered the move of longtime Calgary coach Wally Buono to the Lions. The Lions were also aggressive in free agency signing former Stampeder Dave Dickensen as quarterback.
The Lions wore orange alternate uniforms c. 1954 to celebrate the team's 50th season.

## Offseason
### CFL Draft

| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 6 | Paris Jackson | WR | Utah |
| 2 | 16 | Javier Glatt | LB | British Columbia |
| 3 | 24 | Carl Gourgues | OL | Laval |
| 5 | 41 | Nicholas Hoffman | RB | McGill |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Attendance | Record |
| B | June 3 | at Calgary Stampeders | 26–19 | Loss | 25,013 | 0–1 |
| C | June 10 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | 38–9 | Loss | 12,319 | 0–2 |

## Regular season
### Season standings

West Division :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 569 | 414 | 26 | Details |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 514 | 487 | 22 | Details |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 535 | 430 | 22 | Details |
| BC Lions | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 531 | 430 | 22 | Details |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 323 | 501 | 10 | Details |

### Season schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | June 20 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 34–27 | Loss | 20,191 | 0–1 |
| 2 | June 28 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | 32–30 | Loss | 22,155 | 0–2 |
| 3 | July 3 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | 30–27 (OT) | Win | 20,131 | 1–2 |
| 4 | July 12 | at Montreal Alouettes | 28–27 | Win | 20,202 | 2–2 |
| 5 | July 18 | at Ottawa Renegades | 48–14 | Win | 23,800 | 3–2 |
| 6 | July 24 | vs. Ottawa Renegades | 37–18 | Win | 21,554 | 4–2 |
| 7 | Aug 1 | at Toronto Argonauts | 28–26 (2OT) | Loss | 15,623 | 4–3 |
| 8 | Aug 8 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | 48–4 | Win | 24,222 | 5–3 |
| 9 | Aug 16 | at Calgary Stampeders | 30–7 | Win | 30,217 | 6–3 |
| 10 | Aug 22 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 47–25 | Win | 23,010 | 7–3 |
| 11 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 7–3 |
| 12 | Sept 6 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | 28–2 | Loss | 27,495 | 7–4 |
| 13 | Sept 13 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | 34–30 | Loss | 27,070 | 7–5 |
| 14 | Sept 20 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 26–20 | Win | 27,605 | 8–5 |
| 15 | Sept 26 | at Edmonton Eskimos | 27–7 | Loss | 44,432 | 8–6 |
| 16 | Oct 4 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 35–31 | Win | 25,591 | 9–6 |
| 17 | Oct 11 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | 28–24 | Win | 21,046 | 10–6 |
| 18 | Oct 18 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 29–23 | Win | 13,106 | 11–6 |
| 19 | Oct 25 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | 26–23 | Loss | 29,706 | 11–7 |

## Player stats
### Passing

| Player | Att. | Comp | % | Yards | TD | INT | Rating |
| Dave Dickenson | 549 | 370 | 67.4 | 5496 | 36 | 12 | 112.7 |
| Spergon Wynn | 65 | 46 | 70.8 | 626 | 4 | 1 | 115.3 |
| Geroy Simon | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 52 | 1 | 0 | 158.3 |
| Casey Printers | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 158.3 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att. | Yards | Avg. | Longest | TD |
| Kelvin Anderson | 188 | 1048 | 5.6 | 52 | 6 |
| Dave Dickenson | 44 | 311 | 7.1 | 21 | 2 |
| Geroy Simon | 7 | 135 | 19.3 | 88 | 1 |
| Spergon Wynn | 28 | 126 | 4.5 | 31 | 1 |
| Mark Nohra | 25 | 123 | 4.9 | 29 | 0 |

### Receiving

| Player | No. | Yards | Avg. | Long | TD |
| Geroy Simon | 94 | 1687 | 17.9 | 103 | 13 |
| Chris Brazzell | 68 | 1111 | 16.3 | 74 | 6 |
| Ryan Thelwell | 59 | 925 | 15.7 | 62 | 4 |
| Frank Cutolo | 64 | 908 | 14.2 | 70 | 8 |
| Jason Clermont | 41 | 615 | 15.0 | 39 | 7 |

## Awards and records

* Frank Cutolo, Outstanding Rookie
* Dave Dickenson, Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy
* Steve Hardin, Tom Pate Memorial Award

### 2003 CFL All-Stars

* Ray Jacobs, Defensive End
* Geroy Simon, Slotback
* Barrin Simpson, Linebacker

### Western Division All-Star Selections

* Eric Carter, Cornerback
* Dave Dickenson, Quarterback
* Ray Jacobs, Defensive End
* Cory Mantyka, Offensive Tackle
* Geroy Simon, Slotback
* Barrin Simpson, Linebacker
* Mark Washington, Safety

## Playoffs
### East Semi-Final

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Toronto Argonauts | 0 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| BC Lions | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |