Mark Stephen
CFL.ca
Do not adjust your television set.
Week seven’s installment of Friday Night Football will feature another battle between the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium.
No, the images on your screen will not be replays from the first installment of the rivalry that took place on July 30.
On that night, the Stampeders managed to defeat the Riders, 22-18.
In preparation for this week’s encounter, John Hufnagel and the rest of the Calgary coaching staff have spent the entire week trying to ensure that their players realize Friday night will be a different game with a different tempo and flow.
“The Roughriders? Right now, they are a desperate football team,” said Hufnagel.
“They’re going to be sky high coming out of that locker room and we need to be ready to face that type of team.”
As part of their preparation for the expected noisy crowd, the Stampeders pumped in simulated crowd noise during practices at McMahon Stadium. The noisy prelude to the trip to Regina, is essential according to Hufnagel.
“It’s very necessary that we get it as loud as possible so we can function when they get loud…and they’re going to get loud,” said Hufnagel.
The game, however, presents some unique challenges for the Stampeders. They head to Regina six points ahead of the Roughriders in the standings, and should a tie-breaker be enforced, they currently hold the edge in that as well.
All those factors may weigh on the players’ minds, but Hufnagel has already taken steps to keep them focused on the task at hand.
“We chatted about it as we went along. I gave them their schedule for the bye about three weeks ago.”
“I gave them the schedule for the bye, so over that course of time they could be making their arrangements. They’ll be focusing on this game. How it goes? We’ll find out.”
Calgary will head to Regina with speedy receiver Ken-Yon Rambo in the lineup. The seven-year veteran missed last week’s matchup against the Ticats with an achilles strain but will return to action this week.
His return coincides with an injury to his replacement, Landon Talley.
Talley, suffered a shoulder injury in last week’s game and will be out of the lineup for up to six weeks.
While Rambo returns to action, a pair of veterans will not be ready to play.
Linebacker Juwan Simpson and fullback Rob Cote were both declared out of action for this week’s rematch. Both are expected to be ready for the Stamps post-bye week home date with Montreal.
A victory in Regina would not only improve the Stamps’ record to 5-2, it would improve their 2011 road record to a perfect 4-0.
The last time the Stampeders opened their season with four-straight road wins was in their Grey Cup year of 1998.
The Stamps have actually proven to be a road powerhouse over the last couple of seasons, having captured five consecutive road games (final two in 2010 and first three in 2011). If they win in Regina, the six-game road streak would be their longest since 1995.
