The Jon Cornish Trophy, also known as the Cornish Trophy, or Cornish Award is a trophy that is awarded annually to the Canadian student athlete who has been the most outstanding player in NCAA Football. It is awarded by a panel consisting of Canadian journalists, player personnel evaluators from the Canadian Football League, former NCAA players with a connection to Canada and the panelists from the Krown Countdown U radio and TV programs. The award has been presented since 2017, but the trophy debuted in March 2019. The trophy is presented at, and in conjunction with the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario on an annual basis.
The Trophy
At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Krown Countdown U recognized the top Canadian player in NCAA Football as the "KCU Top NCAA Canadian Award". The award was renamed after Jon Cornish, a former high school football player from British Columbia who was a college standout as a running back at the University of Kansas. Cornish later went on to win three Most Outstanding Canadian awards and a 2013 Most Outstanding Player award in the CFL as a member of the Calgary Stampeders. His 2013 season was capped off with winning the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete. Cornish was only the third Canadian Football player to win Marsh Trophy joining Russ Jackson and Joe Krol. Cornish told Krown Countdown U on CBC Sports that he was humbled by the honour: "Having a trophy named after you is one of the greatest honours. I hope the award outlasts me." The patrons of the trophy are the N8 Group led by Saskatoon businessman L. David Dube and project partner Jim Mullin from Vancouver.
Selection Process
In 2017, the Krown Countdown U panel and a group of Canadian Football League scouts were consulted in the selection of Ohio University quarterback Nathan Rourke of Oakville, Ontario as the first winner of the award. A top five players were also selected known as the "Stateside Five". For the 2018–19 season the KCU panel selected 16 players for the first ballot which was voted on after the conclusion of the NCAA football season. The 16 candidates are ranked by a reverse value vote where first place equals 16 points, second equals 15, etc. Voters must give all 16 players a value. On January 25, 2019 the results of the first ballot were announced via a release from the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. The players with the top five point totals advanced. Rourke, the 2018–19 winner was presented with the trophy from Cornish at the Canadian FootballHall of Fame in Hamilton, ON on March 14, 2019. The trophy will is on permanent display at the CFHoF. For the 2019-20 selection there were 20 voters, who were media and CFL player personnel staff. Twenty names were on the first ballot with five players progressing as finalists to the second ballot. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the award was presented virtually on May 6, 2020 in a live web stream to winner Chuba Hubbard.
