‘Just comes down to getting the win’: Riders take on Redblacks in crucial game

It’s a critical game for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as they take on the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday.

“It’s a big test for us,” said Riders head coach Craig Dickenson, whose team now has a 3-4 record and is in the middle of a three-game losing streak.

“We know this is a big game for us at a midway point of the season where if we expect to be a playoff-calibre team, we have to start stringing a few wins together.

“It’s a big game for us and I hope we come out loose and ready to go. I feel like we’ve had a great week of prep but we will see. This is one of those games where it will show a lot of who we are and hopefully we will respond the way I think we are capable of.”

For the third straight game, Mason Fine will be the team’s starting quarterback at the 5 p.m. kickoff. While Fine has thrown for 278 and 302 yards in his first two starts of 2023, respectively, he has yet to lead a drive that has ended in a touchdown for the Green and White.

The 26-year-old pivot believes only one thing will show he was successful in the game.

“It just comes down to getting the win – that’s all the success is,” Fine said. “No matter how we get it done … when we walk off that field (Sunday), the only success we want no matter how we get that done is the win.”

With the number of touchdownless drives increasing for Fine, there has been a growing sentiment the team should give second-year CFL quarterback Jake Dolegala a chance to start.

Dolegala came in for Fine on the Riders’ final drive in a 31-13 loss to the Toronto Argonauts last week. On the drive, Dolegala completed four of five passes for 100 yards and the team’s only touchdown – a 31-yard strike to Shawn Bane Jr.

However, Fine believes the outside noise just comes with the territory.

“I think there’s always going to be outside noise, especially when you’re the quarterback and for the Saskatchewan Roughriders,” Fine said. “There’s no one that’s a harsher critic than myself. I want to win just as bad as everyone else does. When we don’t, I feel like I not only let myself down but I let the team and fan bases down.”

Fine isn’t the only young quarterback in this matchup looking to prove himself. Ottawa pivot Dustin Crum won his first two starts in the CFL – 31-28 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and 43-41 over the Calgary Stampeders – but was contained in a 16-12 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week.

While Fine (a former North Texas Mean Green pivot) and Crum (a quarterback at Kent State) never faced off against each other, Fine has liked what he has seen from Crum thus far.

“I watch him on TV and the buzz around him. The kid is a winner and they are playing with confidence right now,” Fine said. “You can tell Ottawa’s defence is feeding off that because they play harder and they are more physical – you can tell they are playing with a certain sense of urgency and energy.

“He brings something to them.”

One of Crum’s weapons for this game will be former Riders receiver Shaq Evans, who burst onto the scene in 2019 with 1,334 yards and five touchdowns for Saskatchewan.

But injuries have plagued the 32-year-old since then; he only played in a combined 17 games in 2021 and’ 22. This season, Evans suffered a broken finger that kept him out of action until he made his season debut last week. He hauled in one pass for 14 yards.

Covering Evans for most of the game will be defensive back Nic Marshall, who is tied for fourth in the CFL with three interceptions.

“It will be great. He’s an old teammate. I knew him very well,” Marshall said. “It’s going to be a great matchup going against him.

“He was an all-star receiver back in 2019. It’s going to be a challenge for both of us and I am always down to accept that challenge.”

The Riders’ receiving group will feature a new face with Jerreth Sterns making his CFL debut. The 23-year-old is entering the lineup due to a foot injury to Brayden Lenius.

In 14 games in 2021 with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Sterns led the NCAA in receiving yards (1,902) and catches (150) and was tied for the lead with 17 touchdowns.

The Riders’ offensive line will also face a big challenge in reigning CFL most outstanding defensive player Lorenzo Mauldin. Mauldin led the CFL with 17 sacks in 2022. He has three so far this season.

Eric Lofton will draw the matchup on Sunday as he gets the start at left tackle in place of the injured Brandon Council (knee).

“It means everything (that) they trust me to go out there and play and do everything I can for this team to win,” Lofton said. “(Mauldin) is a great player and he has a lot of tools in his toolbox. He is a big, strong physical guy who tries to be the bully and has a high motor. We just have to match his intensity and play for all four quarters.”

The game against the Redblacks could be extra-crucial for the Riders with a tough four-game stretch (Montreal Alouettes, B.C. Lions and Winnipeg twice) staring them in the face.