  Montreal Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo arrives at the East CFL Grey Cup football practice in Calgary, Alberta, November 25, 2009. (REUTERS/Todd Korol)
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CALGARY — Fresh off a long flight from Montreal and an early-morning arrival in Calgary, Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo would have been excused for looking a little bleary-eyed or stifling the occasional yawn.
Not this time.
“I really think my energy level has just totally changed,” Calvillo told a room full of reporters Wednesday afternoon at McMahon Stadium. “There’s a lot of things that I tried to change to get myself ready for this time of year and I’m very happy with it and excited about it, because the energy level, the excitement, is totally different from what it was the last few years.”
It’s not like his old approach was a recipe for disaster — Calvillo is, after all, preparing for his seventh Grey Cup appearance of the past decade — but the Alouettes quarterback insists he’s feeling better than ever as he prepares for Sunday’s showdown with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
On the field, Calvillo hasn’t changed much. Outside of the lines, though, it’s a much different story. During last off-season, he altered his workout regime and made significant changes to his diet and mental approach.
The results speak for themselves.
Calvillo finished atop the CFL passing charts in several key categories, including quarterback rating (108.4) and touchdown strikes (26), and he was simply dominant in a 56-18 semifinal shellacking of the B.C. Lions last weekend.
He’s a shoo-in to accept his second consecutive Most Outstanding Player nod Thursday at the CFL awards banquet at the Telus Convention Centre.
“He’s like fine wine,” said veteran centre Bryan Chiu. “He gets better with age.”
The 37-year-old pivot sported a smile as wide as the uprights Wednesday as he reminisced about his first taste of Grey Cup hoopla, an eye-opening week at McMahon Stadium in 2000.
He was serious, though, when asked what has changed about a core of Alouettes veterans with only one victory to show for six previous trips to the big game.
The answer? He has.
“At the end of the year, people are really tired and your body starts to break down and your mind starts to break down a bit,” Calvillo said. “But there were a lot of things I continued to do during the regular season that I didn’t do in years past, and I really feel that I’m mentally stronger right now and I’m physically stronger.
“I think of you can be both of those at this time of the year, it’s going to lead to less mistakes on the field. And that’s the biggest thing for me and that’s why I’m so excited.”
The Alouettes have lost their last four Grey Cup games but, as he pointed out Wednesday, this is a new Anthony Calvillo.
“As A.C. goes, so do we, so I would imagine that would have an impact,” said sure-handed slotback Ben Cahoon. “If he’s on top of his game, then the whole team hopefully rises to his level.”
That’s exactly what Calvillo is hoping for.
“I think when they see me get excited, they might get a little more excited,” Calvillo said. “I never really paid too much attention to that, but I started to feel that from them. For me, it was just a natural response because I could see it in the guys’ faces, like, ‘Man, this guy is really enjoying what he’s doing’ and I think it reflects on them to go out there and enjoy it themselves.
“When you see older guys getting excited intentionally, younger guys get excited as well.”
