Two of last year's stars, Gilles Colon and Jean-Francois Roy are battling for spots with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Ottawa Renegades respectively.

Colon has received good reviews since the beginning of training camp, although impressing the coaching staff and making the team are two different things.

The Blue Bombers are loaded with talent at Colon's position, wide receiver, and Winnipeg head coach Dave Ritchie has always preferred veterans over rookies.

Roy started and played the entire first half in Ottawa's first exhibition game against the Montreal Alouettes last week after recovering from a difficult opening day of training camp.

Insiders say that the duo will probably start the season on the practice roster and Leroy Blugh, the Gaiters' defensive line and specialty teams coach, predicted that if either one got cut they would quickly be picked up on waivers by another club.

"I have talked to several CFL clubs the last few days who said they would sign either player if they were cut," Blugh said Tuesday.

The players weren't the only Gaiters that have spent time in CFL training camps this spring, two of the school's coaches were also contributing at pro camps from the sidelines.

Bishop's head coach Tony Addona spent a week as a guest coach with the Edmonton Eskimos while Blugh held a similar position in the Toronto Argonauts camp.

"It was a great experience", Addona said upon his return to Lennoxville. "It was educational to be involved in a pro camp -- to see the terms of their operation, how they run practice and make decisions."

Addona, whose coaching portfolio at Bishop's includes that of offensive co-coordinator, was able to see first-hand how the defending Grey Cup champions instill their offensive sets. It also enabled him to evaluate the physical and mental skills needed to play the game.

"It was valuable was to see the quality of athlete at these camps. It gives a better perspective of what we need to do to prepare our players at Bishop's for the next level. The pros are always at a high intensity level; they are skilled and know what is expected of them when they are on the field."

For Blugh, attending the Toronto Argonauts camp represented a shift from player to coach, a move that was well received by both the players and coaches on hand.

"The players respected my ability (as a player) which made the transition easy and that is a credit to their professionalism," Blugh said late last week. "Both the players and coaches were genuinely interested in my input."

Blugh worked with defensive co-ordinator Rich Stabler and defensive line coach Thomas Menas.