A.J. Ouellette jump-started the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offence by hurdling a would-be tackler.
The feat of athleticism was part of a 21-yard run during Saturday’s game against the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“You can tell he’s feeling like himself,” quarterback Trevor Harris said of the Roughriders’ featured tailback, who demonstrated his 1,000-yard form during the 2025 pre-season opener.
A year ago, Ouellette was already battling a hip injury that persisted throughout his first season with the Green and White.
An East Division All-CFL selection with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2023, Ouellette went on to lead the Roughriders in rushing yards (558) despite playing in only eight regular-season games.
The yardage total, extrapolated over a full 18-game schedule, works out to 1,256 — 247 more than he gained with Toronto during a banner season in 2023.
Ouellette also rushed for three touchdowns in two post-season games as a first-year Roughrider, but nonetheless felt he could have done more to help the team.
“It was defeating, not to be able to play a single game the way you wanted to,” he said after Tuesday’s Coors Light Training Camp session at Mosaic Stadium.
“Even when I came back at the end of the year, I didn’t feel too good — just good enough to get the job done and get the starting spot.”
Now he is 100 per cent from the start of the season, having derived early benefits from his inexhaustible adherence to an intense training regimen over the winter in Ohio.
“Every cut I made in the game, I felt good,” Ouellette said. “Even a reactive jump off the left leg felt good.
“I felt explosive. I felt like me.”
That said, Ouellette is the antithesis of a “me” player.
As much as a running back is in the spotlight due to the high-profile nature of the position, Ouellette embraces every facet of his duties. He is, for example, a premier pass protector and a reliable receiving target out of the backfield.
“I just do whatever I can do to help the team win, play to the best of my ability, and hopefully open up the playbook more,” he said. “The coaches know they can trust me and that I’m feeling good.”
LAUTHER LEAPFROGGING
When the Roughriders play host to Winnipeg on Friday (7 p.m., Mosaic Stadium), Brett Lauther will have an opportunity to move a notch or two higher on a couple of the Green and White’s All-Time pre-season lists.
Lauther is fifth in pre-season field goals (17) and within range of Bob Macoritti (19) and Jack Abendschan (21).
With a seven-field-goal outing — a feat that has happened once in a Roughriders pre-season game — Lauther would tie Paul McCallum (24).
Dave Ridgway leads the list with 68. Seven of them were registered against the host B.C. Lions on July 4th, 1991.
Ridgway leads the Roughriders’ All-Time pre-season points list with 280, followed by George Reed (144), Abendschan (121), McCallum (102), Macoritti (98), Luca Congi (60) and Lauther (58).
Lauther holds the Roughriders’ record for the longest field goal in a pre-season game.
He boomed a 55-yarder in Edmonton on May 27th, 2018, just 22:48 into his first game of any description as a Roughrider. His four field goals accounted for all of Saskatchewan’s points in that career-changing game.
Saskatchewan’s complete list of 50-plus-yards field goals in the pre-season is as follows:
55 — Brett Lauther at Edmonton, May 27, 2018
52 — Luca Congi vs. Edmonton, June 3, 2006
52 — Chris Milo vs. Calgary, June 22, 2012
51 — Paul McCallum at Calgary, June 21, 2000
51 — Tyler Crapigna vs. Calgary, June 8, 2018
51 — Brett Lauther at Winnipeg, June 2, 2023
50 — Jack Abendschan at Toronto, July 13, 1973
50 — Paul Watson vs. Edmonton, June 18, 1983
50 — Dave Ridgway at B.C., June 30, 1983
50 — Dave Ridgway vs. Edmonton, June 14, 1985
50 — Dave Ridgway vs. B.C., June 7, 1986
HIGHLIGHT REEL
• Pressure by defensive end Lake Korte-Moore forced quarterback Jake Maier to escape the pocket and run during Tuesday’s practice. Korte-Moore had one of the Roughriders’ three sacks on Saturday in Winnipeg. He added three defensive tackles (one of which was for a loss) and a pass knockdown.
• Drae McCray made a leaping catch of a Maier aerial, 30 yards downfield and near the east sideline, on Tuesday.
• University of Calgary Dinos alumnus Gideon Agyei, the Roughriders’ sixth-round selection (52nd overall) in the 2025 CFL Draft, registered an interception during Tuesday’s session.
SURGERY A SUCCESS
Three-time All-CFL centre Sean McEwen, a free-agent acquisition during the off-season, underwent surgery on Monday to repair a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament.
McEwen was injured on May 13th during a training-camp workout at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
