In 2015, when Gabriel Cousineau was in his senior year as quarterback for the Montreal Carabins, he also worked full-time at a secondary school in the city called Collège Laval.

On lunch breaks, Cousineau would study tape of the Carabins’ next opponent, and sidled up next to him would be star student Jonathan Sénécal.

At other times, Sénécal followed Cousineau as he went to throw around with his receivers on the university team.

“And the receivers were asking me like, is he coming in next year at the university? I’m like, ‘No, no, no, he’s just going to [his senior year at secondary school]’. So he’s had an impressive arm such a long time,” Cousineau recalled. 

“And he’s been labelled the messiah since he’s been a kid. And just seeing that he actually answered the call last year by winning all the trophies possible, well, finally, we’ve gotten to the point we’ve been looking forward to for such a long time.”

Nine years later, Sénécal and Cousineau continue to study the game together — the former as the current star QB for the Carabins, and the latter as his offensive co-ordinator. In Sénécal’s junior year last season, the duo lifted the Carabins to the Vanier Cup title, the school’s first since Cousineau was under centre in 2014.