Regina Thunder

Playing the highest-profile position in football, Reid Quest prefers to keep his profile low.

In his third Prairie Football Conference season, the Regina Thunder quarterback has established himself as the league's top passer, but to talk to him one might think he is the smallest piece of the puzzle.

Even when asked about the reasons for his success -- other than his offensive line and receivers -- Quest turns in a typically humble answer.

"With the playmakers we have on our team, it makes my job a lot easier," said Quest. "I have a lot of time in the pocket that the O-line is giving me and the receivers have been doing an unbelievable job."

Not a word of that surprised Thunder head coach Erwin Klempner.

"He's a team guy," said Klempner. "He doesn't care about this recognition or all these of kinds of things. What he's worried about is the team winning. He wants to do well, but to get all this recognition and (stuff) like that, he'd probably rather do without it. What he wants is the wins. And he's the kind of guy who will do anything to win."

Through six games, Quest leads the circuit in passing yards (1,902), completion percentage (63.1), touchdown passes (18) and passer rating (110.3).

Should Quest's pace continue through Sunday's home contest against the Edmonton Wildcats (1 p.m., Mosaic Stadium) and the regular-season finale against the Winnipeg Rifles (Oct. 4), his numbers could fall in the neighbourhood of the best seasons posted by the top junior quarterbacks in Regina's history -- players like Darryl Leason (2,749 yards in 1995), John Makie (2,638 in 2002) and Dean Picton (2,445 in 1988).

"It's too early (to speak of Quest in that group), but without question, the potential is there," said Klempner. "It's something you have to repeat and I think we have the team next year to do that. This team is still finding itself and will be even better."

Quest would rather not talk about such comparisons at all. And don't even bother mentioning his two PFC player-of-the-week awards this season, let alone the post-season laurels that could come his way.

"To be perfectly honest I hope someone else on our team wins that kind of stuff, like the receivers or the offensive line," said Quest.

He could probably make a good case for that. Of the top 10 receivers in the league, three (Kolten Solomon, Jeff Bolen and Jay Smith) are members of the Thunder. As well, the young Thunder line has proved adept at pass protection (despite allowing 16 sacks this season) when there were many questions surrounding its capabilities prior to the season.

Quest, however, has impressed members of both groups with the way he has developed since being thrown into a starting role to begin the 2008 season.

"He went from last year from making one read and being kind of hesitant," said receiver Jonathan Probe, "to this year he'll make two or three reads on a play while still maintaining his composure in the pocket."

"His preparation in the off-season and before each game has been different this year -- it's has been a lot more in-depth, a lot more thorough," added fifth-year centre Jordy Kyle. "Plus confidence. He seems a lot more confident in the pocket. He has come leaps and bounds since his first couple snaps.

"He came in as a young kid with huge potential. Now he is starting to work on it, starting to recognize some of it, and it's showing up in the game big time."