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

VANCOUVER — The Saskatchewan Roughriders will be looking to earn some breathing room in the CFL’s West Division on Saturday.

The B.C. Lions, meanwhile, will be looking to tighten up the division.

The Roughriders and Lions are just two points apart in the standings as they prepare to meet at BC Place (8 p.m., CKRM, TSN). Saskatchewan is fourth in the West with a 4-4-0 record, while B.C. holds down fifth place at 3-5-0.

With a 40-27 victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday, the Roughriders pulled to within two points of the third-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-4-0) in the West. Winnipeg is to visit the Stampeders on Saturday in a contest that can further clutter up the standings.

Here’s one man’s list of five things to watch during Saturday’s game in Vancouver.

1. Riding the wave: The Roughriders went into the contest against Calgary having lost two straight games, but they snapped that streak with an impressive victory over the visiting Stampeders. Handing the first-place Stamps their first loss of the regular season could create a wave of momentum for the Roughriders, who are hoping to become more consistent. Saskatchewan has gone win-loss-loss-win-win-loss-loss-win so far this season and must start putting together victories to move up in the West Division standings.
2. Air Jordan: First-year CFLer Jordan Williams-Lambert was named one of the league’s top performers of the week after recording 10 catches for 152 yards in the victory over Calgary. Williams-Lambert leads the Roughriders in receptions (32) and receiving yards (393) through eight games this season after surviving a Roughriders tryout camp in Akron, Ohio, their mini-camp in Bradenton, Fla., and training camp in Saskatoon. He has used his size and his hands to great advantage thus far and is among the league leaders with an 80-per-cent completion rate.
3. Slot machines: The Roughriders have a bevy of players who can start at slotback in place of Caleb Holley, who suffered a leg injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s victory. Holley has been placed on the six-game injured list, so the starting spot could have a number of occupants in the coming weeks. Devon Bailey, who has four catches for 27 yards so far this season, replaced Holley on Sunday and was running with the first-team offence this week. In addition to Bailey, the Riders could look to Brian Jones (who was acquired Monday from the Toronto Argonauts) and Kyran Moore (who has been on the practice roster all season) to fill the void Saturday.
4. Making it Rainey: The Lions’ Chris Rainey went into the week as the CFL leader in combined yards, with 1,338 (including 651 on kickoff returns and 420 on punt returns). The chore of slowing down Rainey falls to the Roughriders’ special-teamers, who have tightened things up in the past two games. After allowing punt-return TDs in back-to-back games, Saskatchewan has shut out opposing returners over the past two contests and has allowed averages of just 7.6 yards on punt returns and 21.3 on kickoff returns in those outings.
5. Going Long: B.C.’s Ty Long entered Week 11 with the league lead in punting average (50.6 yards) and he was second in net average (39.3 yards). The Lions have allowed an average of 10.3 yards per punt return, the fifth-best such number in the CFL going into the week, and have yet to surrender a punt-return TD this season. Saskatchewan is fifth in the league in punt-return average at 11.3 yards, and Christion Jones is in what amounts to a slump for him: He hasn’t had a punt-return TD since July 19.