There’s some debate as to which CFL team is the biggest rival of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
There isn’t any debate that the Calgary Stampeders belong in the conversation.
“They’re right under Winnipeg — or it might be neck and neck, actually,” Roughriders receiver Naaman Roosevelt said Friday at Mosaic Stadium, where Saskatchewan is to entertain the Stampeders on Saturday (7 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
“We know they’re a great team. They’re one of the best teams in the league every year. We’re trying to get to that level, so every time we play them, it’s a battle.”
Calgary enters Saturday’s game with a 5-0-0 record this season, while Saskatchewan is 3-2-0.
It’s the first time since 1995 that the Stampeders have won their first five games of the regular season. That year, they opened with seven straight victories before losing.
Calgary has won four consecutive regular-season games in Regina and is 10-1-0 in its past 11 regular-season meetings with the Roughriders overall.
The Stamps’ success against Saskatchewan, as well as the teams’ playoff history in recent seasons, helped foster the notion that Calgary has become the Roughriders’ chief rival in the West.
“In the last few years, there has been so much parity in the division that every game is a big game,” guard Brendon LaBatte said. “Some of them have a little more historical importance — with Winnipeg, there’s a little more history there — but if you look at some of the big games that both organizations have had, it has been Calgary against Saskatchewan in the playoffs a lot of years. It has developed into that type of rivalry.
“Anytime you’re playing arguably the best team of the last decade, that probably makes them as big a rival as anybody. You want to try to play your best and see where you stack up.”
Since the start of the 2008 campaign, Calgary has posted a regular-season record of 135-47-3. It has finished first in the West Division standings six times, second three times and third once over that span.
The Stamps have been to the playoffs in each of those years, reaching the Grey Cup final five times (winning twice). They also lost in the Western Semi-Final once and in the Western Final four times.
As Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said, it goes without saying that Calgary is the CFL’s measuring stick.
“They’ve been one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the league for 10 years now,” said Jones, who was employed by the Stampeders from 2008 through ’11. “(It started) with John Hufnagel in ’08 when we all went over there and had a lot of success together and they’ve been consistent ever since.
“Dave (Dickenson, Calgary’s current head coach) has done a great job with them, they’ve got good players, they’re well-coached and they don’t beat themselves.”
The Roughriders enter the game riding a two-game winning streak — they swept the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a home-and-home set — but the Stampeders represent a different sort of test for Saskatchewan.
Calgary’s defence went into the week with the league lead in almost every significant statistical category, including points allowed (46), opponent’s net offence (an average of 243.2 yards per game), opponent’s rushing yards (70.4 per game) and opponent’s passing yards (194.0 per game).
The Roughriders’ defence isn’t too far behind in the statistics. Saskatchewan entered the week ranked first in two-and-outs forced (36) and second to Calgary in offensive touchdowns allowed (seven) and opponent’s passing touchdowns (four).
But the Stampeders’ offence isn’t too shabby, either.
Calgary went into the week tied for the CFL lead with 10 passing touchdowns and with just six giveaways, and was second in net offence (408.4 yards per game).
The Roughriders, meanwhile, entered Week 7 tied for last in the league with the Montreal Alouettes in offensive touchdowns (six) and was seventh in net offence (315.8 yards per game).
If the Roughriders want to get to Calgary’s level, they’re going to have to execute at the Stampeders’ level.
“That’s the most impressive thing when you watch Calgary on film is there are very few pre-snap penalties, there are very few 15-yard penalties of any type and there are very few turnovers,” LaBatte said. “Anytime you can do that and be good offensively as far as staying on the field and not making the little mistakes that will end your drive, that’s good.
“That’s the one thing that we’re aspiring to do: Play as consistent, good football as what they have shown for the last decade.”
Neither Calgary nor Saskatchewan has faced a West Division team so far this season, but Jones doesn’t see that as a big deal. As he noted, every game a team plays awards points to the winner — and those points all add up in the standings.
That may be so, but this is the Stampeders.
“I’m a Saskatchewan boy; I’ve never liked Calgary and I never will like Calgary,” Regina-born Roughriders defensive tackle Zack Evans said with a grin. “But that’s because I’m a fan. I’m one of those guys. Now that I’m a Rider, you’ve got to beat (the Stampeders) to get past them.”
“I know their guys get excited to play us,” Saskatchewan safety Mike Edem added. “You can tell from the pre-game with all the rah-rah and all the intensity going on that it’s a heated rivalry and, as the years have gone on, it has grown that much more intense.”
