MONTREAL — Nik Lewis is not so much looking for revenge as getting a fresh start against the Ottawa Redblacks.

Ottawa owned the Alouettes last season, winning all three meetings between the geographic rivals.

They resume the battle Thursday night at Percival Molson Stadium in what will be the Alouettes home opener and a second straight away game for the Redblacks. Both teams are 1-0.

"It's new year," Lewis said Wednesday. "We had a different starting quarterback every time we played them last year.

"Nothing ever stayed the same. And every game we were on a short week and they had a long week."

It couldn't have worked out better for Ottawa in 2015. In the season opener for both sides, Montreal led 13-5 when quarterback Jonathan Crompton was inured. Two plays later, his backup Dan LeFevour went down and Canadian rookie Brandon Bridge was pressed into action. The Redblacks came back to win 20-16.

On Aug. 7, rookie Rakeem Cato had a solid game at quarterback but fell short in a 26-23 Ottawa victory. On Oct. 1, Anthony Boone took the snaps in a 39-17 Redblacks' win.

This time, Montreal will have had one more day of rest.

"For us, it's good we're getting it at home so we can start the series off right against them and hopefully get a win," said quarterback Kevin Glenn. "But they're a good team.

"They went to the Grey Cup game last year. They came out their first game of this season and showed they can put some points up, so we've got our hands full."

Both teams opened with impressive wins.

The Redblacks looked to be in trouble when starting quarterback Henry Burris left in the third quarterback with a finger injury, but off-season acquisition Trevor Harris came in to complete 17 of 19 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yard TD strike to Chris Williams on his first play.

Burris had already put up 251 passing yards, so stopping the Ottawa attack will be a challenge for an Alouette defence that has rookies Ethan Davis and Jonathan Mincy at cornerback.

Defensive back Billy Parker said he is confident Montreal can counter that with quality veterans like 2015 CFL sacks leader John Bowman, linebacker Chip Cox, DB Jovon Johnson and lineman Alan-Michael Cash, who he called the "most under-rated player in the league.

"We're a talented group and all we did was add two rookies to the mix and, when they got in, they played extremely well last week, said Parker."

The Alouettes are coming off a 22-14 victory in Winnipeg. The margin could have been wider if not for turnovers and untimely penalties.

It was a first test for a new offence with quarterback legend Anthony Calvillo as co-ordinator. Glenn, now the starter after being picked up late last season, was sharp after a full training camp, while slotback Duran Carter starred both catching and running the ball in his return from a year in the NFL.

"Duran's a very athletic guy and he's not the only guy we can use like that," said Glenn. "It was his turn to shine in those situations.

"I think every week we'll try to make it a different guy. It makes it hard for a defence to focus on one guy when you have multiple options on the offence."

One change could see former Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams take over short-yardage plays from Bridge, but coach Jim Popp said that decision would be made Thursday.

The 41-year-old Burris is to sit out, ending a string of 78 straight starts. Brock Jensen will back up Harris.