Unrest? It’s the best!
Take it from Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive tackle Micah Johnson, who derives great joy from hearing (and seeing) fans at Mosaic Stadium create chaos for rival offences.
“I think the coolest thing is hearing the conversations among the offensive players and the frustration with the communication — hearing them bicker back and forth for not getting the call or saying ‘you’ve got to be louder!’ or different things like that,” Johnson said with a smile as Friday night’s home date with the Montreal Alouettes looms.
“That’s definitely a big one for us with just the timing of the offensive line and what they have to do to communicate amongst each other. It makes it difficult on the road.”
Accordingly, the Roughriders would love to welcome a large, lively and loud crowd for Friday Night Football.
“That would be awesome,” receiver Shawn Bane Jr. said. “The fans play a huge part, whether they know it or not.
“When you can mess up their cadence and their timing and pretty much their overall snap count, that’s hard to replicate.
“When the fans are going at it full throttle, it’s lovely. I’m always trying to hype them up as well on the sideline. When you can affect that, it’ll obviously affect the whole game.
“It’s good for us when you can see the guys going, ‘Yo, what’s the snap count?’ When it’s kind of messed up, it’s good to see.
“Once they get a flag or a penalty, it’s like, ‘Let’s go!’ You’ve got to let the fans know.”
Corey Mace knew very quickly that a Saskatchewan crowd could disrupt the opposition.
His third game as a CFL player with the Calgary Stampeders was a visit to Regina on Sept. 17, 2010. A month later, the Stampeders faced the host Saskatchewan side once again.
“It’s always like walking into a hornet’s nest,” said Mace, the Roughriders’ first-year Head Coach.
“There’s no chill from a visitor’s standpoint, especially for the opposing offence coming out and trying to get all their communications and their checks.
“You’re not going to just be out there talking. You’ve got to do a bunch of other stuff to be on the same page and to be able to communicate and execute plays.
“Even on the sideline, I know from being a visitor here that you’re going to hear it even when you’re sitting down and you’re resting. There’s no break.
“Sometimes guys need a mental break. They’ve got to be on the sideline talking to their coaches and they’re getting grinded from the fan base.
“That’s part of it, man, and you love that.”
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Friday’s game is a collision of the CFL’s division leaders. Montreal (8-1-0) sits atop the East. Saskatchewan (5-3-1) is the pace-setter in the West.
“Even though we are that in the standings, I don’t feel that way,” Bane Jr. said. “I still feel like there’s a ton that we have to prove.
“I feel like we’re chasing the teams that beat us in the past. That’s how it is for me, mentally.
“I know as a team, we still feel like we have a ton to prove to ourselves. We just have to go show it.”
Those sentiments are endorsed by Trevor Harris.
“I think it’s good that we don’t feel good about that, because that means our expectations are raised,” the Roughriders’ starting quarterback said.
“A lot of times at the beginning of the year, if someone says, ‘You’re going to start off 5-3 and be in first place in the West,’ you’d say, ‘We’ll take it.’ I’m not sure that we would take that, the way we are right now.”
Not when there is work to be done in all areas, with an emphasis on execution and consistency.
“It’s just about focusing on the big things, the key takeaways that Coach Mace talks about for offence, defence and special teams every week,” Harris said.
“If we can just focus on those things and make sure that we’re tuned into the details, and the details of the details, that’s really how you kind of just do it.
“But it’s a progression thing — a constant evaluation.”
And an evolution into being a dominant team.
“We’re at the top, but I think we know we can play a lot better football,” Bane Jr. said.
“We’re nowhere near being undefeated or anything like that. We’ve lost some games, so it’s not that hard for us to stay dialed in.”
MACE’S MARKS
How would Mace grade the Green and White at mid-season?
“I’d probably give us a B or a C-plus,” he replied. “We just harp so hard on being the best versions of ourselves that we’re not really satisfied with what we’ve put forth this year.
“And I love that, because we all see that the same way. We’re working day in and day out to improve where we feel we’re weak in areas.”
FAST FACTS
• The last time the Alouettes played at Mosaic Stadium, Harris was the visiting team’s starting quarterback. That was on July 2, 2022, when the Roughriders won 41-20. Montreal was the only East Division team that did not play in Saskatchewan last season.
• Logan Ferland is poised to become the Roughriders’ fifth starting right tackle this season. He follows Jermarcus Hardrick (Games 1 to 5), Jacob Brammer (6, 7), Brandon Council (8) and Nick Jones (9). A different starter has been designated for four games in a row (including Friday) as Roughriders continue to contend with injuries.
• Jones, who was the starting right tackle last week in Ottawa, shifts to right guard — the position ordinarily occupied by Ferland. Jones is preparing for his econd CFL game.
• The Roughriders, beset by injuries for most of the season, have started 40 different players in 2024. There are 24 starting positions on offence or defence.
• Linebacker Zach Philion and linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. are to make their debuts with the Roughriders on Friday. They will increase the team’s all-time total of roster players to 2,176 — including the 64 who have appeared this season.
• Dating back to the inception of the Regina Rugby Club in 1910, there is documentation of 4,495 players whose rights have been held by the team. That includes training-camp hopefuls, practice-roster players, draftees, and players who signed but did not report — the latter instances being rare.
