ROBSERVATIONS: Roughriders give the fans a hand … “my dad!” … fine line from 59

Corey Mace returned the ovation from Rider Nation.

“We absolutely love you,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ second-year head coach said on Saturday after a sellout crowd of 33,350 watched the locals defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 29-9 at Mosaic Stadium.

“That was incredible today. The amount of people who showed up was excellent. That was everything we envisioned when we first came here.

“To have that happening now, in a non-Labour Day game and going into Labour Day (in two weeks), you have no idea how much that means to us as a team.

“We love you. We hope we made you proud.”

Rider Pride is peaking thanks to just the second 8-1 start in franchise history.

The only other green team to sport an 8-1 slate — the 2013 edition — went on to win a Grey Cup.

We don’t want to spike the ball too early, of course, but everything is trending positively.

Consider the past two games, in which the Roughriders have outscored the opposition 63-15.

“To me, this is us,” quarterback Trevor Harris said of another sparkling performance by his team. “This is what we need to be doing for our fan base.

“We have the best fan base in the league. For them to show up for us today and have a sellout crowd for a 1 o’clock game is absolutely phenomenal. We’ve got to keep that rolling.

“Rider Nation, keep it rolling. Keep coming out. Keep making it tough on ’em and we can get this done together.

“We’re really grateful for our fans showing up today. Hopefully we can have no seats unsold the rest of the year.”

The sellout was the 18^th for the Roughriders since new Mosaic Stadium officially opened on July 1, 2017. Ten of those sellouts have been for non-Labour Day Classics.

SHIRE INQUIRES

The Regina Leader-Post’s Taylor Shire asked a terrific question of Harris during Saturday’s post-game yak session with the Roughriders’ marquee quarterback.

The L-P’s sports editor (whatever happened to the rumpled scribe who preceded him, anyway?) referenced a MaxTron moment that showed T.J. Harris — Trevor and Kalie’s first of four children — exclaim “my dad!”

Trevor Harris responded with an answer that was as inspired as the question by Shire.

“When I heard that little voice say ‘my dad!’, I can’t lie, that got me,” the proud father of Trenton James Harris said. “I started getting tears and I had to try and snap out of it to try and get back into it and dialled in for the game.

“Hearing that was just one of those bucket-list things. To hear your eight-year-old son announce you at a professional game, I can’t put it into words.

“The first time he did it when he was practising at home, I started crying. It was tough for me. My wife said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I was like, ‘I can’t hear that voice do that.’ That was rough.

“The same thing happened (on Saturday) and it kind of got me choked up here.”

BRETT MAKES MOSAIC MAGIC

On Saturday, Brett Lauther kicked the longest field goal — 59 yards — in the history of Mosaic Stadium 2.0.

In so doing, he eclipsed his own stadium standard of 57 yards, set on July 2, 2022 against the Montreal Alouettes.

Moreover, Lauther boomed one of the four longest three-pointers in Roughriders history, splitting the north-end uprights on the final play of the first half to give Saskatchewan a 19-6 lead.

That was part of a lopsided victory over the East Division-leading Tiger-Cats.

So can’t we just enjoy it all? Like, every bit of it?

Yes, Lauther went 2-for-5 overall. It hasn’t been his finest year. He is the first to acknowledge that and accept responsibility.

But his team is 8-1 … the Roughriders have dominated their past two opponents … and we just witnessed a 59-yard field goal!!!

Until Saturday, I had not seen a Roughrider kick a 59-yard field goal in 44 years. That was Paul Watson against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 12, 1981 — long before any of the participants in Saturday’s game were born.

It had been nearly 24 years since a member of the Green and White crushed a kick of 59 yards or longer. That was back on Oct. 27, 2001, when Paul McCallum nailed a 63-yarder against Edmonton.

McCallum topped Dave Ridgway, who was unerring from 60 yards when Winnipeg was here on Sept. 6, 1987.

The only two players who have kicked a field goal longer than Lauther while wearing a Roughriders jersey are in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

“He bangs it from 59 right before the half,” Mace marvelled.

“Honestly, that was huge for us to get those three points, because you don’t know the dynamic of how that changes their decision going into the second half — whether they’re going to take the ball because they’re down or take the wind in the fourth quarter. That changed everything. That was one of the plays of the game, for Brett to make that kick.

“Yes, he’s not had the year that he has wanted to have but, in the same breath, he has done some incredible things for this football team, today included.

“And some of it, man, I don’t know. We went for two (for a conversion) in the third quarter because the wind was so crazy. It would be tough to make a PAT (point after touchdown).”

ROLL CREDITS

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Dale West, Joan West, Al Johns, Shiane de Jong, Quinn Ramsay, Susan Black, Andrea Reid, Meghan Degraw, Deven Sacrey, Corbin Reid, Jill Ramsay, Bill Lariviere, Allison Lariviere, Dr. Lois Herperger, Wendy Kosid, Michelle Kosid, Jacob Brammer, Rolan Milligan Jr., Ray Fournier, Doug Rogers, Nelson Lokombo, A.J. Ouellette, Elvis Stojko, Cyndi Cherney, Liam Dattilo, Carter Haroldson, Joe Robustelli, Marcus Sayles, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, Lynda Lutkin, Steve Milton, Barry Clarke, Doug Rogers, Cynthia Block, Greg Yuel, Doug Hodson, Scott Flory, Mike Jenkins, Les Lazaruk, Brett Lauther and Tyler Daku.