James Butler isn’t surprised when he watches Nathan Rourke successfully lob a 49-yard pass up the field. 

It’s what the running back has come to expect from the B.C. Lions star quarterback. 

“To me, that’s just Nate being Nate. It’s on brand for Nate,” Butler said at the team’s training facility in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday. “I’ve been saying this since I met him — whenever No. 12 is back there, he just gives you a chance.”

After struggling in his return to the CFL last season, Rourke is back at the top of his game. 

The 27-year-old Canadian earned player of the week honours for leading the Lions to a decisive 36-18 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. 

Rourke has shown “steady growth” this season and the player of the week nod shows the team’s entire offence has been clicking, said Lions head coach Buck Pierce.

“I think the guys around him are performing at a high level as well,” he said. “And when quarterbacks receive that type of honour, it means a lot of guys around him are performing well, too.” 

Rourke connected on 26 of his 34 pass attempts Saturday, throwing for 382 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. 

The performance marked his sixth 300-plus yard game of the season and the fourth time he’s thrown multiple TD passes in his last five starts. 

“Great leader, great quarterback, great man. Aspire to be like him in a few ways,” said Lions receiver Keon Hatcher, who leads the league in receiving yards (878), receptions (54) and targets (85). 

“Nate’s done great. Excited to see how he can finish this season. He’s a great leader. He does a great job in and out of the huddle and I just can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Since returning from an oblique injury on July 5, Rourke has averaged 352 passing yards per game.

He currently sits third in the CFL for most passing yards (2,686) this season behind Bo Levi Mitchell of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3,057) and Nick Arbuckle of the Toronto Argonauts (3,033), and is third in TD passes (16). 

The success follows a difficult end to the 2024 campaign. 

Rourke wasn’t in the CFL to start the season, working instead to find a permanent home in the NFL. Last August, he re-signed with B.C. — the team where he had a breakout campaign in 2022 and earned most outstanding Canadian honours — taking over for the injured Vernon Adams Jr. 

The homegrown talent went 3-5, throwing four touchdowns and nine interceptions and B.C. finished the regular season with a 9-9 record. The Lions were ousted from the West semifinal by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. 

B.C. opted to stick with Rourke moving forward and dealt Adams to the Calgary Stampeders during the off-season. The club also brought in Pierce — a former CFL quarterback himself — as head coach. 

While the Lions (5-5) lost three straight games early this season, they’ve recently rebounded and won two straight, thanks in part to a dynamic offence where Rourke and his teammates constantly keep their opponents guessing. 

Part of what makes the offence work is trust, said Butler, who leads the CFL in rushing yards (785). 

“I feel like every time we go out there, I always say, ‘got your back,'” he said. 

“Playing with him just makes it so much easier. Like I said, with Number 12 next to me, there’s a chance. I know I’m gonna block a D lineman, a D tackle, I’m gonna block dudes, three, four times my size as long as it protects 12.”

While Butler and Rourke started building their bond back in 2021 and 2022 when they were both with B.C., this year the entire offensive crew has built a special chemistry.

“It’s definitely a tight-knit group,” said the running back. “And I feel like it only makes it better that anybody at any time can make a big play. That’s a cool thing. And I feel like guys making big plays only makes us all want to make big plays.”

There’s still room to grow, too, said Rourke. 

The entire offence wants to limit how many penalties they take and how many turnovers they give up, and they’re working to get points on the board faster to ease the pressure for their teammates on defence. 

Progress comes week by week, the QB said. 

“At this point, I’m just trying to stack games and trying to feel better, more comfortable every week,” Rourke said. “And I’ve just been enjoying learning from the guys and from Buck. And I like that the level of comprehension of the offence is just kind of growing every week.”

The Lions will face the Argonauts (2-8) in Toronto on Saturday.