Roughriders ready for rematch against Blue Bombers

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hoping to snap a string of losses.

After losing 35-33 to the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Sunday’s Labour Day Classic, the Riders will now travel to the Manitoba capital for the annual rematch on Saturday (1 p.m., CTV) at a sold-out Princess Auto Stadium.

Saskatchewan (5-6-1) will be hoping to snap a six-game winless skid dating back to their last win on July 19 while Winnipeg (6-6) enters Week 14 of the CFL season having won four in a row.

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“It’s hard to stomach the results but you can’t hide from reality,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. “And our message is reality is that we’ve still got games to play in this season.

“And also, the reality is if we handle business, we put ourselves in a really good position to attain a lot of the things we looked to attain as the season started.

“Everything that we still want is still in reach and is in our control.”

Roster changes

Some tough injury news this week for the Riders as centre Peter Godber (ankle), guard Zack Fry (elbow), receiver Dohnte Meyers (shoulder) and linebacker Melique Straker (hip) have all been placed on the six-game injured list.

With the injuries to Godber and Fry, Saskatchewan’s interior offensive line will look different this week as veteran Logan Ferland will make his second career start at centre while American Nick Jones comes back onto the roster at guard.

Langenburg product Noah Zerr will make his first career start at right guard while Braydon Noll comes onto the roster as the backup.

With Meyers heading to the injured list, rookie Ajou Ajou starts at slotback while fellow rookie Dhel Duncan-Busby returns to the lineup as a backup.

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Defensively, Canadian linebacker Nick Wiebe (knee) and defensive back Jaxon Ford (wrist) will both make their season debuts after spending the first 12 games on the injured list. Kosi Onyeka heads to the practice roster.

After taking a hit late in the second quarter of the Labour Day Classic, Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros sat out the entire second half but returned to practice this week and is slated to start on Saturday.

Also of note for Winnipeg, veteran guard Patrick Neufeld makes his return to the lineup this week while linebacker Adam Bighill lands on the injured list.

CFL on CTV

Saturday’s game will be exclusively televised on CTV instead of TSN.

Viewers subscribed to TSN+ will still have the option to watch the augmented broadcast with enhanced stats.

It’s the first of seven regular season games that will be broadcast exclusively on CTV, while the four playoff games and Grey Cup game will be shown on both CTV and TSN.

Run stoppers

In the Labour Day Classic, the Riders defensive line was able to hold the league’s leading rusher Brady Oliveira to just 42 yards on 12 carries.

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Through 12 weeks, the Riders lead the CFL in fewest rushing yards allowed per game with an average of just 74.3 and it would be considerably lower if the Green and White didn’t give up 276 rushing yards to the Edmonton Elks in Week 9.

“Just every man acknowledging that they have a job to do and doing their job to the best of their ability on any given play,” said defensive lineman Bryan Cox Jr., who also registered the Riders lone sack last week.

Rematch history

After winning the Labour Day Classic 32-30 in overtime last year, Saskatchewan lost the rematch 51-6, which was the first of seven straight losses to end the season.

This year, the Riders are hoping to snap a six-game winless streak and get back on track before things turn worse.

For Ferland, a veteran who has been on the team since 2019, he says the mindset in the locker room is different this year despite the skid.

“The group we have and the guys in the locker room, we still want to harp on having fun and keeping the mood up,” said Ferland. “Because when everything is caving in around you, when guys focus on the negative, that’s when it gets (us) in trouble.

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“And that’s what we have seen in the past so the priority is to keep things positive, keep things happy and just continue to work hard and that’s what this group is doing.”

Winnipeg has won the Labour Day rematch seven out of the last eight times. Since 2004, the Bombers are 12-7 and have swept the home-and-home series four times (2004, 2016, 2021, 2022).

tshire@postmedia.com

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