Five things (or players) to watch during Friday’s game

OTTAWA — The CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders will try to get back on track today.

Saskatchewan, which fell 15-9 to the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday, faces the host Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place. The loss to Calgary dropped the Roughriders’ record to 6-6-0 this season.

The contest today marks the first time this season that Saskatchewan and Ottawa have met. The Roughriders swept the teams’ two-game season series in 2014 and again in ’16, but Ottawa took both ends of the series in ’15.

To set up today’s game (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN), here’s one man’s list of five things (or people) that bear watching:

1. The quarterbacks: Roughriders pivot Kevin Glenn, who passed for a season-low 127 yards before being replaced by Brandon Bridge in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, is to be back under centre tonight. The 38-year-old Glenn is still looking for career win No. 100 as a starter in the CFL; he’s currently tied with Tom Clements for ninth on the all-time list. Ryan Lindley, meanwhile, makes the second start of his CFL career for the Redblacks in place of the injured duo of Trevor Harris and Drew Tate. Lindley, a former NFLer, was 16-for-36 for 151 yards with one interception for Ottawa in its 29-9 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 22.

2. Antwane Grant: Naaman Roosevelt, who leads the Roughriders in receptions (64) and receiving yards (929) this season, is out after taking a high hit in the second quarter of Sunday’s game. His replacement today is Grant, a CFL rookie who has made five receptions for 62 yards this season. Grant has appeared in four games with Saskatchewan — he has been on the practice roster for the other eight contests — after making the team with an impressive showing at mini-camp in Florida in April. The 25-year-old needs to show those skills again as he attempts to replace one of Glenn’s favourite targets.

3. Crezdon Butler: The 30-year-old defensive back has found a home with the Roughriders after bouncing around the NFL for seven seasons. Butler has 26 defensive tackles, four pass knockdowns and three tackles for losses in the nine games he has played for Saskatchewan this season and has provided solid man-to-man coverage. He should get a good test today against Ottawa’s talented receiving corps, which includes slotbacks Greg Ellingson (who leads the CFL with 1,186 receiving yards and 14 catches of more than 30 yards) and Brad Sinopoli (who has a league-high 83 catches, including 36 second-down grabs that have produced first downs).

4. The running game: The Roughriders expect to get a heavy dose of William Powell, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the Redblacks’ past two games. Powell is the first Ottawa player to exceed the century mark in back-to-back games since Josh Ranek turned the trick in 2003. Saskatchewan’s running game, meanwhile, is coming off a game in which it produced just 28 yards — and 12 of those were recorded by Bridge. Tailback Kienan LaFrance, who had four carries for four yards against the Stampeders, has to be more productive to take some of the pressure off Glenn.

5. Special teams: Five days after holding Calgary returner Roy Finch in check, Saskatchewan’s cover teams have to contend with Diontae Spencer. The Redblacks’ return man goes into Week 15 ranked second in the CFL in punt returns (51) and punt return yards (664, including a 96-yard touchdown), but he’s also first in the league in missed field-goal return yards (223, with a 113-yard TD) and fifth in the league in kickoff return average (23.1 yards). Roughriders punter Josh Bartel did a stellar job of putting the ball near the sideline against Calgary and he’ll be asked to do the same thing today to help out his special-teamers.