“It should wake some of the guys up.”
Yes, that is exactly what a 24-0 loss should do for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Head Coach Corey Chamblin was quite calm after his team was shut out. The first time the Riders have put a goose egg on the board since an embarrassing 56-0 loss to Winnipeg in 1986.
Corey Chamblin was 11 years old.
Now the 37-year old defending Grey Cup Champion has to go into his football bunker and re-evaluate this team heading into the final five games of the season.
These five games will determine if they’re good enough to complete for a West Division Championship.
“As usual toward the end of the season I evaluate the whole team, coaches included, and see where we are and see if there needs to be any major changes going down the stretch to get us the wins we need or any tweaks just to make sure we’re good.”
Good they were not on Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium and as the fan base grows concerned, veteran defensive end Ricky Foley hopes this doesn’t become a trend.
“24-0 is not us. I got to believe it’s not us. That’s not a reflection on who we are. Got to believe that and we have to bounce back next week. But again, we got our __ kicked and no excuses.”
The most disconcerting thing for the Riders may be at quarterback. Tino Sunseri looked like he was growing after each quarter in the overtime thriller against Ottawa.
He was calm, cool and collected, throwing for over 200-yards in the second half of that game, leading the Riders back.
On Friday night in Edmonton, he was pulled in the third quarter for Seth Doege. 
And now, Head Coach Corey Chamblin is unsure who will start behind centre for them when they face the division leading Calgary Stampeders this coming Friday.
“I’ll look at (the film) again and see who has a better feel for it. It’s not like either guy was different. One was five for 11 and the other was six for 12 so to me that’s the same guy.”
A few weeks ago I wrote in this space a quote from Chamblin in which he was adamant that the Riders were not looking outside the organization for help.
“They’re here and we’re not changing” said Chamblin after a 28-3 loss to Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which was Tino Sunseri’s first go around as the Riders starter following Darian Durant’s elbow injury.
Less than 24-hours after the game, Chamblin wasn’t sure what was ahead at the quarterback spot.
“Everything is week to week. They are here and the only thing in the building right now is Tino, Seth and Keith (Price). Until something changes, Darian comes back or something else changes, that’s what we have.”
Chamblin says management will make the decision on whether or not they feel they need help at the quarterback position, but Chamblin is still wondering what is out there that could help them.
Outside of the quarterback position the Riders also need to find out what went wrong defensively.
They allowed 299 yards rushing as John White and quarterback Mike Reilly found openings, ran through tackles and had the Riders on their heels for most of the game.
Up next, Calgary, who field the best running back in the league, Jon Cornish.
Foley and the rest of the defence will be sitting in front of a screen for the next few days to figure out their deficiencies.
“We have to go see what corrections we have to make. We have to play better. We have to have faith we can come back and correct some of the things we didn’t do well. To a man I don’t think we played well enough, myself included.”
Foley also says they were all out played in the man to man battles that go on in every game.
For Chamblin, who has to make an important decision at quarterback, it feels like a point in the season where they can go one of two ways.
“This is where we are now and this is the hand we’ve been dealt and however we handle this will determine how we finish the season.”
