Chad Geter got the message — loud and clear.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ rookie defensive end was told in no uncertain terms by his veteran teammates that Sunday’s Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers holds special meaning for the local CFL team.
“Ever since we got finished (against the B.C. Lions last Saturday), everybody has been like, ‘It’s time. This is our biggest rivalry,’ ” Geter said in advance of Sunday’s Classic (1 p.m., CKRM, TSN) at Mosaic Stadium.
“They said it’s going to be the loudest game I’ve ever played in. Everybody’s saying how packed the stadium is going to be and how much the game means to everybody in Regina and Saskatchewan, so I’m ready to see what it’s about.”
Geter played collegiately at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., where the Runnin’ Bulldogs play home games at the 9,000-seat Ernest W. Spangler Football Stadium. On Sunday, Geter’s current team will take on the Bombers before a packed house of 33,350.
Saskatchewan has played in front of sellout crowds before — this is the team’s fourth full house of the season — so that won’t be new. But there’s something about the Labour Day Classic that brings out the best (worst?) in fans.
Even so, the Roughriders have tried to stay on an even keel as they prepared for the 54th edition of the annual grudge match.
“Being from Saskatchewan, it has definitely got a little added bonus because you know what the fans in the stadium want,” Regina-born centre Dan Clark said. “They want that rivalry game where you come out on top.
“You’ve got to keep your eyes on the prize.”
“But being a professional, you’ve got to prepare the exact same way every week. You’ve got to have that mental mindset that you prepare for every team exactly the same. You can’t get hyped up for one and look down on another in this league.”
That’s the message Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones has been spreading all week.
Jones knows the fans are enthused about the Classic and he fully understands that many of his players are, too. But as Jones said Saturday, the Roughriders “can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
“You’ve got to keep your eyes on the prize,” he said. “The points in this game will be the same amount of points (available in each game) after the Winnipeg series is over …
“We’ve got to keep it in perspective, but at the same time, it’s hard. It’s human nature to get excited about the game when everywhere you go this week, it’s something about Winnipeg.”
The Roughriders (5-4-0) and Bombers (5-5-0) go into the game tied for third place in the West Division. They’re two points back of the second-place Edmonton Eskimos (6-4-0), who are to continue their annual Labour Day hate-hate relationship with the first-place Calgary Stampeders (8-1-0) on Monday.
Saskatchewan and Winnipeg are to meet twice more this season in the Manitoba capital (Sept. 8 and Oct. 13), so Sunday’s game won’t decide the season series. It could, however, set the tone for the next two games.
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innipeg-born Roughriders defensive tackle Eddie Steele has heard Jones’ message and will heed it: Sunday’s contest is just another game. Except it really isn’t.
“There’s no denying that this game carries more weight than any other game,” Steele said. “Anybody who knows a snippet about the CFL knows that the Labour Day Classic, next to playoff games, is one of the biggest games of the year.
“It’s another game on our schedule that we need to win and we have eight more after this, but this game is the most important. The fact that it’s the provincial rivalry makes it that way.
“It’s going to be a slobber-knocker. They play physical football and we play physical football. We’re playing really good football right now, so I like our chances. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The Roughriders enter the game on a two-game winning streak, having defeated Calgary on Aug. 19 and B.C. on Aug. 25. Winnipeg, meanwhile, is riding a two-game losing streak after falling to the Ottawa Redblacks on Aug. 17 and the Stampeders on Aug. 25.
The Bombers have the CFL’s most-productive running game this season and the Roughriders have the second-best run defence — hence Steele’s reference to “a slobber-knocker.”
Winnipeg also went into Week 12 tied for the CFL lead in interceptions (11) and turnovers forced (28) and led the league in points off turnovers (84), so the Roughriders’ offence must take care of the football.
“I’m expecting physicality,” said Saskatchewan linebacker Matt Elam, who’s set to play in his first Classic. “Guys are going to be locked in. There’s going to be a lot of energy and there’s probably going to be a lot of mistakes at the beginning because guys are flying around trying to make plays.
“I’m expecting Super Bowl-type play.”
The Roughriders are expecting Winnipeg to play with the urgency of a team that has lost two straight games — a situation in which Saskatchewan has found itself twice already this season.
That experience gives the Roughriders an understanding of the Bombers’ mindset coming into the Classic. It also gives Saskatchewan motivation to start the second half of its 18-game regular-season schedule by extending both streaks.
“If you’ve won two or lost two, you’re either on a roll of momentum or you’re on a roll where you can’t let it happen again,” Clark said. “This is about starting the second half of the season well, but we also want to put good games together, string together a bunch of wins and set ourselves up well.
“We’ve been in the shoes of Winnipeg. We’ve lost back to back, so we know what it is to have that extra will to shut down the noise that you’re hearing and just lay a beating on somebody.”
