VANCOUVER — Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond was awarded the 2025 Jon Cornish Trophy on Wednesday.
The award is given annually to the top Canadian player in NCAA football.
Raymond, of Montreal, becomes the first Quebec-born player to claim the honour. Raymond ran for 1,241 yards (5.1-yard average) and 13 TDs this season for Rutgers. He also added 18 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
Raymond was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the NCAA’s top running back, and had 240 yards rushing on 41 carries earlier this season versus Maryland.
He becomes the third running back to capture the award (Chuba Hubbard in 2019, and Chase Brown in 2022).
Hubbard (Carolina Panthers) and Brown (Cincinnati Bengals) are both now playing in the NFL.
“It’s an honour to be included with running backs like (Chase) Brown and Chuba (Hubbard) in winning this award,” Raymond said in a statement.
Ottawa’s Akheem Mesidor, a defensive lineman at Miami, was the award runner-up. Rounding out the finalists were Vancouver’s Ty Benefield (safety, Boise State), Edmonton’s Nuer Gatkuoth (defensive lineman, Wake Forest) and Rutgers safety Jett Elad, of Mississauga, Ont.
Raymond tops a solid Canadian contingent at Rutgers that includes Elad, linebacker Dariel Djabome and defensive linemen Djbril Abudo-Rahman and Farrell Gnagno.
“It means a lot, with the other Canadians on this team,” he said. “We all support each other when it feels like we’re far away from home.”
Cornish, of New Westminster, B.C., enjoyed a stellar career as a running back at Kansas before helping the Calgary Stampeders win two Grey Cup titles. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
“In a year where the dominant defensive players from Canada played on the defensive side of the ball, Antwan Raymond burst from the pack,” said Cornish Trophy trustee/chair Jim Mullin. “He convinced the selection committee with his performance that he was worthy of a unanimous selection as the top Canadian in NCAA football.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.
The Canadian Press
