Mitchell Blair
Arguably the CFL’s best rivalry takes centre-stage Friday night in Calgary when the 5-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the 4-1 Calgary Stampeders for the 2nd time this season. The green-and-white are the only team to have had success against the defending Western Conference champs having handed the Stamps a 36-21 defeat at Mosaic Stadium on July 5.
Offensive lineman Brendon Labatte has been a part of the Winnipeg-Saskatchewan Labour Day rivalry having seen it from both sidelines and he says without a doubt that rivalry pales in comparison to the one the Riders have with their Alberta foes.
“This year it’s certainly the biggest rivalry in the league especially when you look at the records,” Labatte said. “The atmosphere is always great when we go there and it’s always a fun game to be a part of. We know that we are going in having a chance to take the season series against them just six games in so we have a lot of motivation going in and we know they have the same.”
Games at McMahon Stadium are always special when these two teams hit because of the amount of Saskatchewan fans that take in the contest and make it seem like an additional home game for the Riders. Defensive lineman Tearrius George has been on the Calgary sidelines when they have played the Riders and he admits it’s something that ticked him off and its something that will get under the skin of the men wearing the red and white uniforms who are supposedly the home team for this game.
“When I was there, it got me upset.” George admitted. “You come into the stadium and it’s all-red, but you come in and the Riders are there and it’s all green and you’re wondering what’s going on and what has happened to some of our fans. It made us go at it just that much harder, but you do have to tip your hat to the fact that the team has the fan-base that it has when they are on the road whether we are in Calgary or down East.
Like the rest of the Riders, George is aware that a victory on the Stampeders turf Friday night will give them the season series just six games in. He says its something the team knows about, but he adds he doesn’t want that to be their main point of focus going in.
“It’s there, but you don’t want to think about it, “George said. “When you get over-hyped for a game, you can mess up because you are too pumped up. You just want to go in and play the game and hope for the best. If we win its great, if we lose, we know we have some unfinished business and it’s something to work for. The coaches are just preaching that one game at a time mentality to us. They aren’t talking about being in the Grey Cup, they are just talking about winning and staying on an even keel. “
Quarterback Darian Durant will return to the huddle after missing the team’s last game against Hamilton. He has had over a week off to heal a foot injury that he suffered in Toronto. He feels as if that injury has recovered to the point that he can once again go and be the quarterback that he knows he is.
“I feel good and I’m ready to go,” Durant stated. “It’s a great atmosphere in Calgary and they are always ready to try and do something to confuse us. We want to get some points on the board early to get our fans going and settle them down, but we know we are in for four quarters of fighting for every yard. It will be two good teams out there and neither one wants to give any ground. “
Game time Friday night is 7 o’clock with TV coverage on TSN. 620 CKRM will start the longest and most comprehensive game-day coverage in the CFL at 430 with Michael Ball and “Roughrider Gameday” followed by Rider Nation Pregame at 6 and then the play-by-play with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri.
GAME NOTES:
- Geroy Simon had his 63rd career 100 yard game in the team’s last game at Hamilton. Former Calgary receiver Allan Pitts has the CFL record at 64. He also goes into the game four catches short of 1000 career catches.
- Four Rider receivers (Simon, Taj Smith, Weston Dressler, Rob Bagg) have had 100 yard games this year with Chris Getzlaf just three yards short of having that number be 5.
- The only time the Riders were 6-0 was in 2008.
- The Riders have not won a regular season game in Calgary since August 1, 2009
