By Jeff Paterson,
Team 1040
While every game on the CFL schedule is important, there are certain games in every season that are more important than others. Saturday’s showdown in Saskatchewan between the Roughriders and B.C. Lions is one of those games. Two good football teams strapping on the pads and knocking helmets for three hours to determine who’s best in the West – it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.
It was obvious to all watching the Lions workout at their Surrey, BC training facility on Tuesday that this isn’t simply another week of football. It’s a game like this that can define a season and, to a man, the players can’t wait for Saturday’s kickoff.
“It’s big. It’s great for the league. I think it’s great for Saskatchewan to give their fans a chance to come out see a big game like that in the middle of the season. It’s been a while since that has happened,” says Lions slotback Jason Clermont who has a pretty good read on the significance of the game to Rider Nation having been born and raised in Regina where he still makes his off-season home. “So it’s great for the league and it’s good for us. We have a chance to distance ourselves not only from Saskatchewan, but hopefully from Calgary.”
At 7-3-1, the Lions head into the game just a point ahead of the 7-4 Riders in the battle for top spot in the West while the third-place Stampeders are 6-4-1 — and still very much in the mix.
Saturday’s game is also this season’s rubber match between the Lions and Riders who split earlier meetings this year with the road team coming out on top on both occasions. The Leos are trying to use the fact they’ve already won at Mosaic Stadium to their advantage as they head back there again this weekend.
“I’m pretty excited to go into hostile territory. It adds to the feeling and the aura going into a city that’s going to be on fire, first place is on the line against a team that is a big-time rivalry for us and a place that we haven’t really had a ton of success in,” says veteran centre Angus Reid of the high-stakes showdown. “It’s a challenge and it’s well-stated — and we always reaffirm — that this is a team that does best when the biggest challenge is on the line.”
Defensively the Lions should be stronger in the middle of the field than they have been in recent weeks with middle linebacker Javy Glatt returning to the line-up after missing the past four games with a sprained ankle. But, on offence, the Lions go into their biggest game of the year with third-string quarterback Jarious Jackson making the most-important start of his CFL career.
The former Notre Dame standout and Denver Bronco has gained the confidence of his B.C. teammates as well as Wally Buono with his performance in recent home wins over Montreal and Toronto. But the Lions head coach knows that Saturday in Saskatchewan will present a whole new set of circumstances for Jackson and the entire football team which hasn’t won a road game since July 28th.
“It’s going to be a loud, probably sold-out crowd and obviously we’re going to have to deal with all those things. We know what we’re doing and from our point, playing in front of big crowds or playing in front of noise is pretty much what we do every week,” says Buono, trying to downplay the Riders’ home field advantage. “The crowd, the intensity of the game, that’s oversold. If you’re not prepared for it, then it does hinder you. But we’re going to be prepared. We can handle that. The fans, even though they think they play, they don’t. They are a big part because of the noise that they make and the energy they give, but when it’s all said and done, it’s the two teams on the field that are going to decide everything.”
And when the dust settles on Saturday in Saskatchewan, one team will have won both the game and the season series and will have the inside track to top spot in the West Division. The Lions know a win against the Riders increases the likelihood they won’t have to go back to Regina again this season. But a loss means the road to the Grey Cup could very well go through Mosaic Stadium.
This is definitely not just another game and kickoff can’t get here quickly enough.
Jeff Paterson is a broadcaster on the Team 1040, the B.C. Lions flagship radio station, and is also a Vancouver-based freelance writer.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
