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Brad Jacobs and his team believe the bull’s-eye will be on their backs at the Syncrude National.

The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., squad’s first major test since winning the gold medal at the Sochi Olympics comes next week in Fort McMurray, Alta., during the third leg of the Grand Slam of Curling.

Team Jacobs, currently ranked No. 1 in the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit, appeared on The Jeff Blair Show Thursday and explained why they feel the other 17 teams are gunning straight for them.

“It would be for us if we were playing and weren’t the Olympic gold medallists — and even still currently the reigning Brier champion — that we would want to go out and put our best performance together for a team like that,” second E.J. Harnden said. “We know going into the Slam next week that teams are going to come out and definitely want to beat us. We’d want to do the same thing.”

Harnden added it’s actually a positive for the team as it helps them remain sharp and ready for any team.

“It keeps us wanting to improve and elevate our game — not stay where we are — knowing that teams definitely want to come out and beat us,” he said, “and rightfully they should.”

The team, which also includes third Ryan Fry and lead Ryan Harnden, brought along their shiny medals to the Sportsnet 590 The Fan studio and Jacobs shared what it’s like winning Olympic gold.

“That’s what you work your whole life for right there. It’s amazing how much that thing weighs,” Jacobs said with a laugh. “Honestly just having that hardware and everything that goes along with it is amazing.”

The team’s physique has drawn attention within the sporting world.

“As much as curling is deemed an amateur sport we consider ourselves professional athletes so we put the same work into it as any other athlete,” Fry said. “When we were in Sochi, a lot of the Team Canada members were really making comments on the type of shape we were in and we take a lot of pride in that because we want to help grow the sport and if we can do that, great for us. On a competing side, it helps us because we’re stepping on the ice knowing that we put more work into it than the average curling team so we feel like that gives us an advantage.”

But it’s also the family aspect that keeps the team solid like a rock on the ice. E.J. and Ryan Harnden are brothers, Jacobs is their first cousin and Fry is considered “like a brother” to the group. Jacobs credits this chemistry as a major factor for their success.

“We’re best friends on and off the ice, really,” Jacobs said. “We can be brutally honest with each other, we can move on quickly and we support one another. There’s just a lot of positivity on this team and that’s what gets us through the big events and the tough finals.”

Fry added with a smile: “We work together, four guys all for one. Between the four of us, we aren’t the smartest guys but collectively we make a decent curler and that’s all that matters.”