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Quite simply, last fall marked the greatest class of Canadian NCAA football players there has ever been.

That’s why the announcement on Wednesday of  this year’s  Jon Cornish Trophy winner as the outstanding Canadian in NCAA college football is an ideal time to appreciate the significance of what players from this country have been able to accomplish.

The NCAA's leading rusher, two high NFL draft picks, a quarterback who led his team to a bowl game win for the third consecutive season and a player who was his team's defensive MVP is a pretty fine list by any standard.

Football Canada can be extremely proud when it announces the winner, selected by a voting panel of journalists, talent evaluators and former players, in conjunction with the Canadian Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday via YouTube Live.

The honour is named after Cornish, the B.C.-raised running back who starred at the University of Kansas before going on to have a distinguished CFL career with the Calgary Stampeders.

This year's group starts with Chuba Hubbard, the Oklahoma State junior running back from Sherwood Park, Alta., who burst onto the national scene in September and kept himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation throughout the year, despite not being named a finalist.

Hubbard led the NCAA in rushing and had just one game all season in which he didn’t crack the 100-yard rushing mark . Despite that, the Doak Walker Award for top NCAA running back went to Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, a two-time winner who was recently a second-round pick of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.

With his senior season still to play, assuming college football operates this fall or next spring, Hubbard will have a chance to build his legacy at Oklahoma State and improve his NFL draft position. ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kuiper Jr. recently ranked Hubbard the 30th best prospect for next spring’s draft, making him the second-highest rated running back behind Clemson's Travis Etienne at no. 27.

This year’s class also includes Notre Dame receiver Chase Claypool, who took full advantage of his senior season to turn himself into a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Claypool hauled in 66 passes for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns, demonstrating a combination of speed and size at his position not seen since former Detroit Lions great Calvin Johnson.

Claypool grew up in Abbotsford, B.C., and, like Hubbard, played all of his high school football in Canada.

So did Neville Gallimore, the third-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys who has been an integral part of the Oklahoma Sooner defensive line. Gallimore, who grew up in Ottawa dreaming of NCAA football stardom, has a rare combination of athleticism and speed for his position that allows him to pursue passers from the interior of the defensive line.

And then there is Nathan Rourke, winner of the first two editions of the Cornish Trophy, who this past season quarterbacked the Ohio University Bobcats to their third consecutive bowl victory and cemented his name in the school's record book.

The Oakville, Ont., native was all moxie during his time at Ohio, running for tough yards, throwing on the run and owning the huddle every minute he was on the field. He was the definition of what scouts call a gamer.

Overlooked by the NFL, Rourke was the 15th pick of the CFL Draft last week by the B.C. Lions, tying former New York Giant Jesse Palmer for the highest selection ever for a Canadian quarterback.

The final nominee is Hubbard’s Oklahoma State teammate, Amen Ogbongbemiga, who led his team in sacks, was sixth in the Big 12 conference with 100 tackles, and was named his team’s defensive MVP.

And there are others, just below the surface, waiting to challenge in the years ahead.

It’s very good news for both the CFL and the game of football at the grassroots level in Canada, which is under a lot of pressure because of concerns about safety in the sport. Having Canadians star at the elite NCAA levels is sure to inspire young boy to live that same dream.

For the CFL, having more Canadians playing college football at the highest levels means more prospects who’ve been exposed to the best coaching and competition possible.

There has long been Canadians making their way south of the border to play college football. But to have this many of such quality, playing key roles in important programs, is a high-water mark for players from this country.