Two B.C. Lions have been recognized by the Canadian Football League for their performances in last Friday’s 36-34 comeback win over the Montreal Alouettes.

Receiver Paris Jackson has been named CFL Canadian Player of the Week while kick returner Ian Smart took the league’s Special Teams honours.

Jackson hauled in five catches for 124 yards including a 43-yard touchdown from Jarious Jackson in the fourth quarter of last week’s victory. The North Vancouver native and Carson Graham graduate is quickly emerging as one of the top targets in Canadian football.

His 23 catches this year puts him in that top 10 and his 423 receiving yards is second only to Geroy Simon on the Lions and fifth overall in the CFL. Perhaps it has taken a little longer than some thought for the 6-3 speedster to use his many tools to become the elite receiver the Lions hoped he would when they drafted him in the first round out of the University of Utah in 2003.

Paris Jackson’s number of receptions has risen in each of his first five years in the league, and he’s on pace to see that happen again this season. He’s also likely to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a season for the first time in his career this year.

And with Geroy Simon currently limping with a slight hamstring issue, the Lions will need Paris Jackson to set up his game again tomorrow in Edmonton and on August 8 when the Eskimos roll into B.C. Place.

In the past, the team had hoped Jackson would be up to a challenge like this one. With the type of season he’s having so far, now they can count on it.