ROUGHRIDERS-BOMBERS PREVIEW: “We’ve got to go out there and play Rider football”
WINNIPEG — Head Coach Corey Mace envisions an ideal version of the 2025 Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He hopes Saturday’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moves the Green and White a few more crucial steps toward the objective.
“I think we’re getting closer and closer,” he said on Friday after arriving in the Manitoba capital. “Truthfully, it’s kind of a carrot that you dangle that you never hope to attain, because you’re constantly working to find ways to get better.
“Even in the situation where we stand right now, there’s so many things we identify that we want to get better at.”
There isn’t a better record in the CFL than 9-2 — a slate the Roughriders carry into the much-anticipated Labour Day Rematch with Winnipeg (6-5).
“We’ve proven, from the beginning of the season until now, that we’re able to come together as a team and celebrate each other’s success instead of just individual success,” Mace said.
“Ultimately, when you’re living in that world and you’re a selfless team, good things tend to happen.”
A primary reason for the team’s prosperity is the play of Trevor Harris, who sports the CFL’s best quarterback-efficiency rating (116.8).
He isn’t one to focus on numbers, as impressive as they are. Instead, he prefers to focus on the Roughriders’ evolution into, as he often phrases it, “the team we want to become.”
How would such a squad be described?
“A resilient, unflinching team that is decisively engaged in terms of what we’re trying to do,” Harris responded. “We know that we have a championship window. We know we’ve got a championship roster, a championship coaching staff, a championship culture that Coach Mace has implemented.
“We know who we are and what goals we’re trying to accomplish, but those goals aren’t going to accomplish themselves if we start thinking about them down the line.
“It’s just about the here and now of becoming the best version of ourselves to execute play after play, series after series, drive after drive, quarter after quarter, game after game.
“Becoming consistently dominant is really what we’re aiming toward.”
BOMBER BAROMETER
Winnipeg boasts a 45-7 record (playoffs included) at Princess Auto Stadium since 2019.
“It’s not an easy place to win a game,” Mace said.
“The odds are saying that it’s stacked against us. I know the belief in the team and what we think we’re capable of. It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.”
Saskatchewan and Winnipeg have met in three of the past five Western Finals at Princess Auto Stadium, where the Grey Cup Game is to be played on Nov. 16.
When the arch-rivals last collided in the playoffs, Winnipeg won 38-22 on Nov. 9 to advance to another Grey Cup.
But Saturday’s game isn’t about redemption.
“It’s about us,” stated Harris, who helped the Roughriders defeat Winnipeg 34-30 on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re improving every week and we can understand what we did last week in terms how we tried to attack them and how we can do a little bit better at that. We did play here in the pre-season, so you kind of got those nostalgic bad feelings out of the way.
“It’s a new focus this week. It’s a new day and we’re excited to come over here and play against a team that has a lot of championship mettle and a lot of success, riding five years in a row where they’ve made it to the Grey Cup.
“We know what they’re going to bring effort-wise. We know what they’re going to do in terms of fighting. They’re going to come out swinging, but so are we.
“We’re excited to tee this one up.”
SAFETY SWITCH
Jaxon Ford, the starting safety for the past two games, will not play on Saturday due to a knee injury.
Ford had stepped in for Nelson Lokombo, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
Kosi Onyeka, a fourth-year Roughrider, becomes the front-line safety. His 38th CFL game will double as his first start.
“He brings energy and passion,” Mace said. “When you see him play on special teams, he’s a fearless competitor. Going out there in practice, he’s going to try to overcommunicate, which is good.
“He’s going to run 100 miles per hour and he’s going to try to strike something. Certainly, we champion that brand of football around here, so we’re excited for his opportunity.”
Onyeka has nine special teams tackles in only four games this season.
“He has been in the system with us now for two years, so we don’t expect any kind of drop-off from him to Jaxon to Nelly,” Mace said. “We’ve got to go out there and play Rider football.”
