There will be a final encore performance in the Battle of the Brads.

One more time, Canada’s Brad Jacobs and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue will meet Saturday with elimination on the line in the Page 3-4 playoff game at the Montana’s Brier in St. John's.

Jacobs eliminated Manitoba’s Braden Calvert 7-3 and Gushue doubled up on Ontario’s Jayden King 12-6 in Friday night's Page 3-4 qualifiers to set up the epic showdown.

Gushue, who is making his last Brier appearance on home ice, was victorious 4-2 when they met Thursday in their final game of pool play and will have the advantage of starting with the hammer.

"It's going to be easy to get up for that game tomorrow," Gushue told reporters. "I think the crowd is going to be energetic, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be exciting."

Either Jacobs’ Brier title defence will come to an end — and an incredible run after arriving straight from a gold medal-winning performance at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 — or Gushue will bid farewell in front of his hometown fans. It’s going to be electric inside the Mary Brown’s Centre.

JACOBS IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY

One win down, three more to go. After dropping the Page 1-2 qualifier, Jacobs suddenly found his team in the danger zone and needing to win four consecutive elimination games.

It’s a script his Calgary-based club authored last year, becoming the first team to pull off such a feat to claim the Brier, but will there be a repeat?

"I don't know if we have the energy to do it again," Jacobs told reporters. "Time will tell. Everyone will find out, but it's just nice to get through that one and now be able to rest. ... We get to sleep in a little bit and just give it our all tomorrow."

Before you could say Jacobs was losing steam when he gave up a steal in third to fall behind 2-1 to Calvert, the two-time Olympic gold medallist charged right back with an angle raise takeout to score a deuce in the fourth and retake the lead.

"I think that just gave us a little bit more energy because we were exhausted at the start of that game," Jacobs said. "I think the boys kind of pepped up a little bit after that one, and we played pretty good from that point on."

Jacobs added insurance with some steals to lead 5-2. Calvert faced three counters in the sixth and managed to spill two of them to cut the damage to one, then threw his last away in the seventh to surrender another but potentially avoid giving up more.

After singles back and forth in eight and nine, Calvert’s last shot in the 10th didn’t go as planned, as Jacobs tacked one more point to his total.

"Every day is pretty tough. It's really, really hard to muster up the energy to care. It really is, and we're doing everything we can," Jacobs said. "We're doing everything we can to try and have energy, but just feeling the effects, especially mentally, physically, everything of the last six weeks."

EXPERIENCE OVER YOUTH

Gushue, 45, is playing in his 23rd and final Brier. Ontario’s Jayden King, 23, was playing in his first.

Yes, we’re into Fernando Alonso-style longevity stats: Gushue has appeared in as many Briers as his opponent has been alive. Let’s also not forget Gushue did not play in the 2006 Brier as he was busy winning some bonspiel overseas in Italy that year. Must have been important.

Here’s one more: Gushue has won six finals at the Brier, more than any other skip. King has won five games at the Brier.

Experience edged out youth, as Gushue built an early 5-1 lead with a tap for two in the third and a steal of two in the fourth. King narrowed the gap back within one with a draw for a deuce in the fifth and a single steal in the sixth, but that was as close as he’d get.

A short angle raise takeout gave Gushue a count of three in the seventh and an 8-4 lead. King drew for two in the eighth, but Gushue iced things with a draw for four in the ninth after a great setup from lead Geoff Walker, who threw a team-leading 94 per cent.

Gushue didn’t have his best game percentage-wise, shooting 76 per cent, but as often has been the case, that's still good enough compared to King at 69 per cent.

"We're getting down to the nitty-gritty here. There's not going to be too many games (left). Once we lose, we're done, so trying to enjoy every moment," Gushue said. "That was one thing I kind of struggled with a little bit in that game is that emotion and thinking, 'You know what? If we don't win this one, that's the last one.'

"I've got to figure out a way to get that out of my head tomorrow, but it's probably something I'm going to have to deal with. I think it's natural to have those thoughts and emotions, but I'm glad we get to play another one. Hopefully, we get to another one after that."

CALVERT, KING EXCEED EXPECTATIONS

Both Calvert and King made the most of their opportunities in their Brier debuts by reaching the playoffs. Now that they've had a taste, expect to see more of them in the future.

There's going to be a changing of the guard at the top soon as the Olympic cycle winds down and a new one begins. Some teams will reshuffle while several players, such as Gushue, skip Reid Carruthers, and Team Dunstone second E.J. Harnden, have announced this season will be their last.

KOE, DUNSTONE CLASH IN 1-2 GAME

Alberta’s Kevin Koe and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone are one win away from the final after advancing to Saturday evening’s Page 1-2 playoff game.

Koe beat Jacobs 7-4 and Dunstone defeated Gushue 7-5 earlier Friday in their qualifier matchups.

Dunstone didn’t hold the lead until it was all over. Trailing by one with the hammer in the 10th end, Dunstone capitalized after Gushue’s guard came up short of crossing the far hog line. It was a costly miss, allowing Dunstone to nail the winning shot to count three.

Since Dunstone was in the opposite pool, it was the first time this week his team got to play in front of the 6,122 Gushue fans. It didn’t appear to faze him, as he outshot Gushue 90 per cent to 78.

“In curling, oftentimes, there's not many home and away teams, arenas, matchups, things like that. Today we had one,” Dunstone told reporters. “We were the obvious away team. ... Probably a moment I'll remember for a very long time."

All-star third Colton Lott also had quite possibly the greatest miss that you couldn't have possibly drawn up, even if you tried.

As for Koe, it was a typical Friday at the office, pulling off a thin triple to score three in the seventh end against Jacobs.

That gave Koe the lead for good as Jacobs was forced to a single in the eighth end, and Koe added insurance points in the ninth and 10th.

Overall, it was an average game for Koe, and by that we mean he threw 89 per cent, which is where he had averaged through pool play to lead all players at his position.

Lead photo: Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver