EDMONTON — “Don’t flinch” rhymes with “don’t clinch,” but that is the extent of the comparison.
The Roughriders, who were unruffled by a seven-game winless streak, extended their winning skein to three games by posting a 28-24 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.
In so doing, the Roughriders clinched a CFL playoff berth for the first time since 2021.
“We didn’t flinch,” defensive tackle Miles Brown said. “We’re living that phrase right now.
“We took our losses. It hurt. It was hard for a period of time, but we’re at a point now where we’re rolling. We are where we want to be.
“We’re rolling at the right time and we’re going to the playoffs, so we’ve got to prepare ourselves for that. Before that, though, we’ve got to prepare for B.C. next week.”
Looming on the agenda is a pivotal matchup with the B.C. Lions (Saturday, 5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
A victory by Saskatchewan (8-7-1) over B.C. (8-8-0) would secure a home playoff game for the Green and White.
“We’d love to be in front of Rider Nation,” Brown said with a smile, before underlining the importance of not looking any further ahead than Oct. 12, 2024.
Looking back, the Roughriders have enjoyed quite a turnaround after an 0-6-1 slump left them at 5-7-1.
The rough spell concluded on Sept. 20 when Saskatchewan defeated the host Calgary Stampeders 37-29.
Eight days later, the Roughriders posted a 27-16 home-field victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Then came Saturday, when Saskatchewan won in Edmonton for the seventh straight time.
Saskatchewan’s surge has made Trevor Harris sound prophetic.
After a down-to-the-wire, 26-21 loss in Winnipeg on Sept. 7, the Riders’ quarterback said: “It’s just a matter of whenever we can break that (winless streak), I know it’ll be a waterfall of great things happening.”
With the Roughriders having spun out of the slide, Harris was asked: Is this anything you didn’t expect?
“No,” he replied, “I just think it was a little bit later than what I’d hoped for.
“When I came back from being hurt (after missing six games with a knee injury), I thought we should have won three of those four games that we lost, at least.
“We were right there. It was just a matter of flipping our mindset and saying ‘how are we going to win this game?’ instead of ‘I hope we win this game.’
“I think we’ve kind of gotten to the point where it’s, ‘How are we going to win this game? We’re going to win this game. We just don’t know how, but it’s going to happen.’
“We’re not hoping anymore.”
Nor are they content with simply making the playoffs.
“The takeaway from these last few weeks,” Harris said, “is that we still have a lot more things to accomplish to climb the mountain that’s ahead of us in terms of making us a complete team.”
Harris mentioned “takeaway,” which is an applicable reference in a different context.
Two interceptions and a late-fourth-quarter forced fumble ultimately tilted the balance — a delicate one at times, as has been the case in most games this season — in the visitors’ favour on Saturday.
Shortly before halftime, Adam Auclair’s third interception of the season set up a 50-yard Brett Lauther field goal that gave Saskatchewan an 18-15 lead.
Early in the third quarter, Rolan Milligan Jr.’s league-leading eighth interception set up a Lauther chip shot, from 13 yards.
The teams exchanged touchdowns over the remainder of the third quarter.
The lone points of the fourth frame — a 36-yard field goal by Boris Bede — reduced the Roughriders’ lead to an uncomfortable four points.
Edmonton’s bid for a go-ahead touchdown was extinguished with 1:45 remaining when the omnipresent C.J. Reavis recovered a fumble — one that had been forced by Amari Henderson — on the visitors’ 36-yard line.
Timely turnovers were the Roughriders’ forte when they sported slates of 4-0-0 and 5-1-0.
That early-season magic has been recaptured.
Example A: Jameer Thurman’s interception with 1:15 remaining the fourth quarter was a massive play in the Sept. 20 victory over Calgary.
Example B: Against Ottawa, Saskatchewan forced all three of the game’s turnovers (interception, interception, interception).
Example C — as in Clinched: The aforementioned plays by Auclair, Milligan Jr., Henderson and Reavis helped the Roughriders improve their league-best turnover ratio to plus-19.
That is a swing of 34 from this time last year, when Saskatchewan was a league-worst minus-15 after 16 games.
To cite another difference of note, we bring you Roughriders receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker.
“Y’all smell that?!” he asked his teammates amid the latest victory celebration. “I smell that!
“Playoffs, baby!”
