ROBSERVATIONS: Harris, Maier ready to roll … recalling a seven-overtime classic … Geno joins legendary list … remembering Tommy Reamon
It will be up to Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace to make a snap decision.
As in: How many snaps will starting quarterback Trevor Harris receive during Saturday’s CFL pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers?
“We’ll see,” Mace replied on Friday before the team jetted to Winnipeg. “Ideally, everybody who’s on the roster, we’d like to see them in the game.
“Trev’s played a game or two in his life, so I’m not going to say it’s going to be extensive, but we want to see what he looks like.”
Harris, of course, has a preference.
“Oftentimes, I ask if I can play 3½ quarters (in a pre-season game) and, if it’s close, leave me in,” he said with a smile following a walk-through at Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium, “but I understand what it is.
“I know everybody needs to get reps in and you’ve got to evaluate and whatnot. Obviously, I’m in the same boat. I need to be evaluated as well.
“Anytime you get to play football, it’s a blessing. It’s a kids’ game and I’m 38, almost 39, years old. I thank God every day that I get to do this and especially be a quarterback for this tremendous organization.”
Harris will be among four quarterbacks to suit up in Winnipeg — the others being Jake Maier, Tommy Stevens and Jack Coan.
Maier, who spent the past four CFL seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, is to make his pre-season debut in green and white on Saturday.
Maier was acquired and signed by the Roughriders during the off-season to provide invaluable insurance behind Harris, who was a divisional All-CFL selection in 2024.
“I have a ton of respect for Trevor,” Maier said. “I’ve looked up to him in this league. I think he’s a model of consistency. I think he’s just a great example of what it means to be a professional quarterback.
“When you see him up close and in person, you see the process that goes into it rather than just watching him in a game. I think that respect just grows even more.
“He has helped me a ton. He has really simplified the game for me — simplified the offence. It has been a joy to work with him.
“You always feel like you’re on the same page with the leader in the room and that’s a good thing.”
Maier and Harris give Saskatchewan two of the four quarterbacks who threw 20-plus touchdown passes during the 2024 CFL season.
“I feel like it’s a re-set for me,” Maier said. “I try to do that every year but, especially this year, I think it has been a much more natural re-set process for me as a player.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time. I know it sounds like a cliché, but I really try to make my life that simple in the moment.
“When my number is called, I try to go in there and produce the way I can and make sure this team doesn’t skip a beat if I get in there.”
When will that be on Saturday? To be determined.
However it unfolds, Maier will be appreciative of the opportunity.
“It has been a ton of fun, just showing up at work every day with a feeling of joy,” he said. “Feeling like you’re a part of something that’s currently being built and trending in the right direction is really fun.
“I’ve loved my time here so far and it’s nice to see an opponent that’s not ourselves this weekend.”
FROM BOWLING GREEN TO WEARING GREEN
Ali Saad and Payton Collins, both of whom are new to the Roughriders, first crossed paths on Sept. 10th, 2022.
They were on opposing teams in a college football game that was decided after seven overtimes.
The marathon ended with Collins and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels defeating the host Bowling Green Falcons 59-57.
“It was a super-fun game,” Collins said. “I’ve actually talked about it with Ali in the locker room.”
The topic is more pleasant for Collins, who was the starting left offensive tackle for a decided underdog of a visiting team from Eastern Kentucky.
“Eastern Kentucky is an FCS school and Bowling Green is FBS, so technically they’re supposed to beat us,” Collins said. “That’s a lot of work to go to seven overtimes and come out on top.”
FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) is regarded as the highest level of NCAA football. FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) schools have smaller budgets and fewer scholarships available.
Until the 2022 upset win over Bowling Green, Eastern Kentucky had not beaten an FBS opponent since 2014.
“We expected to actually come out and win automatically,” said Saad, a defensive lineman. “We didn’t think it would be a crazy game or anything like that.”
Bowling Green had scored 21 consecutive points to assume a 38-31 lead with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter. However, Eastern Kentucky forced OT by scoring a touchdown on the final play of regulation time and adding the convert.
Overtime was characterized by the teams’ matching point totals through six periods before Eastern Kentucky finally settled matters.
The NCAA record for OT periods was set on Oct. 23, 2021, when nine additional frames were required before Illinois defeated Penn State 20-18 on Oct. 23rd, 2021.
In eight OTs, Georgia outlasted Georgia Tech 44-42 on Nov. 29th, 2024. Newly signed Roughriders receiver Abdul Janneh Jr. played for Georgia Tech in that game.
Seven games have required at least seven additional periods since the NCAA’s current overtime rule took effect in 1996.
Having been a part of one of those seven-OT contests, Saad and Collins are now enjoying their common tie to the Roughrider.
“Being reunited with him here in Saskatchewan is great, especially going against him every day in practice,” Saad said. “It’s a great opportunity to be here and compete with him.
“It’s great to see him.”
Although Collins was a visiting player on Sept. 10, 2022, the game took place in his home state of Ohio. He hails from Columbus.
Saad, whom the Roughriders selected fourth overall in the 2024 CFL Draft, is from Windsor, Ont.
“It’s honestly crazy,” Saad said. “I expected to meet guys I know from Toronto or Montreal — closer to the area, maybe. But here, all the way in Saskatchewan? I never expected that.
“It’s actually really surprising and it’s a blessing, too.”
LIST OF LEGENDS
Roughriders great Gene Makowsky has joined an illustrious fraternity of guest coaches who have helped out at training camps through the years.
The honour roll also includes:
• Steve Belichick (1958): You may have heard of his son, Bill.
• Charlie Conerly (1962): He quarterbacked the New York Giants to four championship games, including an NFL title in 1956.
• Clark Shaughnessy (1963): One of the most innovative coaches in football history, he has been dubbed “the father of the T formation.”
• Hugh Campbell (1973): Gluey Hughie!
• George Reed (1977): No elaboration required.
• Kevin Gilbride (1983, 1984): Future NFL assistant and head coach.
• John Hufnagel (1988): Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee, Class of 2020. (Hufnagel and Bill Belichick were both on the Giants’ coaching staff in 2005.)
• Roger Aldag (1996, 1997): Like Makowsky, a Hall of Famer, a 17-year Roughrider, and a two-time recipient of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award.
Asked about the aforementioned guest coaches, the ever-humble Makowsky chuckled.
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to think about that.
“It worked out (to be a guest coach) this year. I had some time. I didn’t have time for a number of years when the opportunity arose before, but I’m so glad it worked out this time.
“I’m looking forward to the pre-season, of course, and to the season as a fan. This is a group with a lot of potential and I want to see how they operate.
“I’m excited about the season and being able to see it first-hand has been a lot of fun for me.”
Fittingly, Makowsky has been guest coaching on the campus of his alma mater, the University of Saskatchewan.
“It’s great to be back here in Saskatoon and enjoy the surroundings,” he said. “I’ve been enjoying the food a little too much, unfortunately, but it’s really good.
“The U of S is a great host and treats the team and the players really well.”
Today, incidentally, is the 30th anniversary of Makowsky signing his first contract with the Roughriders. He was selected in the third round (23rd overall) of the 1995 CFL Draft.
He has been enshrined in the SaskTel Plaza of Honour (2013) and Canadian Football Hall of Fame (2015).
That is quite the resume for a season-ticket member!
Which reminds me of a question: Will Makowsky still be a guest coach when the Roughriders play host to Winnipeg in the May 30th pre-season finale? Or will he be strictly a fan when game time arrives?
“We’ll see what they want to do with me,” he replied. “Either way, I’m getting in.”
TOMMY REAMON (1952-2025)
Tommy Reamon, a running back who played in six games with Saskatchewan in 1977, passed away on Thursday in Newport News, Va.
Reamon exceeded 100 rushing yards in each of his first two games with the Roughriders. In the second game, he took off on a 61-yard TD run.
In 1974, Reamon played for the Florida Blazers of the newly formed World Football League and led the loop in rushing yards (1,576).
Not long after spending time in Saskatchewan, he pursued an acting career. He appeared in a football-oriented movie, North Dallas Forty, and in assorted TV shows (Charlie’s Angels, The Fall Guy and Quincy M.E.).
Reamon returned to football and enjoyed great success as a high school football coach in Virginia. He mentored two future NFL starting quarterbacks — Michael Vick and Aaron Brooks.
In March of last year, I reminisced about Reamon’s short but eventful time in Saskatchewan. HERE is the story.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Klara Belkin, Dave Thomas, Don Pogoda, Sean McEwen, Philippe Gagnon, Shane Ray, Phalen Sanford, C.J. Avery, Dalton Urban, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, Braxton Hill, Ali Saad, Derek Bidwell, Liam Richards, Aldin Pehlic, Kairo Pehlic, Kian Schaffer-Baker, Mike Mason, Rebecca Mason, Seth Mason, Paeton Mason, Izzy Mason, Derek Elvin, Allia Janzen, Kyle Burgess, George Hupka, Craig Chambers, Isaac Ray, Colin Robinson, Tye Robinson, Joe Baker, Olivia Calamia, Abby Ellis, Meghan Wilcox, Nat Asprilla, Hailey Ellis, Rafael Ambal, Cathy Sali, Mark Sali and, celebrating her 12th birthday today, Lila Haroldson.
