While at Kansas, Cornish set the KU single-season rushing record with 1,457 yards and was selected First Team All-Big XII in his senior year.

Those eight games were enough to garner him the 2011 Calgary Booster Club Male Athlete of the Year award and a CFL West All-star selection.

His career achievements were recognized in 2018 when the award for the top Canadian in NCAA Division One football was named the Jon Cornish Trophy honouring his career as a high school and professional player in Canada, and a college player in the NCAA.

In football, he rushed for 3,200 career yards and 49 touchdowns as a three-year letter-winner for Saint Thomas More High School.

While at STMC, Cornish was on two Varsity AAA Provincial High School Football Championship teams.

In Cornish's senior year, he rushed for 1,457 yards, making him the all-time single-season rusher at the University of Kansas.

Cornish finished the season as the 9th leading rusher in NCAA Division I-A football and the 1st in rushing in the Big 12 Conference.

He contributed to the Stampeders playoff efforts and was a part of the 2008 Grey Cup Championship Team.

His 7.3-yard average per rush was tops in the CFL among running backs, with at least 50 carries and he ran for a career-high 618 yards.

[10] During the playoffs Cornish was selected by CFL fans as the winner of the 2010 Reebok Rediscover campaign.

In the final round of voting, Jon Cornish's description of what had motivated him as a player prevailed over Roughrider Darian Durant’s narration of his defining moment as an athlete.

[11] Despite not making his first start of the season until Week 13, Cornish led the Stampeders in rushing, was first among all CFL running backs in rushing touchdowns, tied for the league lead in total touchdowns and earned West Division all-star recognition.

In addition to his excellent work on offence, Cornish was tied for second on the club with 13 special-teams tackles and returned eight kickoffs for 167 yards.

He also ran for 128 yards on Oct. 14 against Toronto — including a career-best 57-yard dash — and again picked up the CFL’s Canadian player of the week honour.

He picked up more league recognition in the playoffs as he was named the Canadian player of the week after rushing for 127 yards and one touchdown in the West semifinal against Edmonton.

For the second year in a row, Cornish was the Stamps’ nominee for the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian award.

He shared the league lead with 11 rushing touchdowns and was also a threat in the passing game as he had 38 catches for 338 yards and two scores.

Nonetheless, Cornish wound up leading the league in rushing yards with 1,082, despite only playing in nine of 18 regular season games.

He suffered a broken thumb in late July before complaining of neck stiffness after a 15–11 loss at home to the Edmonton Eskimos on Oct. 10.

[16] via CFL Stats Page[17] Cornish earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2019, and has since been working as an Investment Advisor with the Royal Bank of Canada.

In 2020 Cornish founded Calgary Black Chambers, an organization of professional people who support post-college youth.