Riders meet Stamps in Thanksgiving showdown

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hoping to have all the fixings for a victory this Thanksgiving weekend.

The Riders meet the Calgary Stampeders for the second straight Saturday, hoping to get a win against their CFL West Division rivals. The Stamps won the teams’ first meeting, 23-17 last Saturday.

One of the keys to this Saturday’s game will be if Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo’s long ball can beat the stuffing out of the Stamps’ defence.

“I’ve got to be able to hit the layups when they are there and not let one play affect a series or drive,” Fajardo said.

The 29-year-old quarterback lost his cool in the loss to the Stamps and made comments after the game about how the team has missed on deep balls this year. The team has only had 12 big plays this year through eight games – tied for the fewest in the CFL entering the week.

“I spazzed out like a child on the sideline. Someone took my toy away and I spazzed out,” Fajardo said Tuesday. “(That was) very immature by me.”

Fajardo and the offence tried to mash out any ill will from the game, holding an offence-only meeting after practice to vent.

“I think it brought us closer – sometimes when you fight with someone, you get a little closer. I personally felt like we had our best offensive day (on Wednesday). I felt like we were clicking on all cylinders,” Fajardo said.

“I thought the guys attacked the week very well and excited to play the team that we lost to last week.”

There will be some turnover as the Riders’ offence tries to get on a roll.

Wide receiver Justin McInnis will start his first game of the season in place for Mitch Picton, who was added to the one-game injured list.

“Ever since I got the news, I’ve been feeling like a kid on Christmas,” McInnis said. “I’m super excited to go back out there. It’s been since the 2019 season that I stepped on the field so I’m ready to go out there and make my mark this year.”

McInnis was the Riders’ first-round pick (sixth overall) in the 2019 CFL draft.

Another ingredient will be tossed into the Roughriders’ receiver room soon, with newly signed receiver Duke Williams set to join the team — but not in time for Saturday’s showdown.

Thanksgiving is also a time to get together with family, something that’s become a regular occurrence when these two clubs meet.

Riders head coach Craig Dickenson is still looking for his first win over his younger brother, Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson.

“I know I’m 0-and-3 against him and our team knows that we haven’t beaten them in a long time and we know what’s at stake,” Craig Dickenson said.

“I think this game is much more important than bragging rights at the family dinner table. I think we’ve got a lot more important things to accomplish than just trying to beat them because I happen to be related to their coach.”

It’s also a time to meet up with old friends, something Riders defensive lineman Micah Johnson did the previous week. Johnson played with the Stamps from 2013 to ’18.

After Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell missed on a pass, Johnson shared some words with him.

“It’s all in good spirit. (I’m) just out there competing and (it’s) always fun to go against a quarterback like that, especially when you used to practise against him and you didn’t really get to hit him,” Johnson said. “It was cool being able to do that now.”

The Riders (5-3) are still in control of second place in the division but another loss to Calgary (3-5) could see their slice of the pie thin when it comes to hosting a home playoff game in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Riders’ defence will hope to stuff a Stampeders offence led by Mitchell. While Fajardo is 0-3 against the Stampeders as a starter, Mitchell has often found success against the Green and White, sporting a 10-3 record against the Riders, including 4-1 in the Queen City.

Saskatchewan’s defenders felt like they got off to a slow start during the first course in a three-game set against the Stamps, allowing Calgary to score on its first two possessions.

“I thought we played well, to be honest, but I think we gave up a few big plays early and we had to bounce back from that. But I feel like as soon as we gave up a couple big plays, we locked back in and they really didn’t do much after that,” said Johnson, who will start in his 100th game on Saturday.

“We have to do a better job tackling and do a better job assignment wise. For some reason we came out and started slow and that was one of the things that we didn’t want to do.
“In my opinion, the slow start cost us the game.”

Linebacker Godfrey Onyeka agreed with the assessment that the Riders’ defence got off to the slow start against Calgary.

“We won’t start that way again, I promise you that,” Onyeka said. “We didn’t play our best football at any point in that game. We were missing tackles and missing assignments. If we clean up what we did and we do what we do how we do it, we should be fine. We’re not tripping about playing Calgary.”

The Riders have had success over the past few seasons when it comes to bouncing back from a loss. Since August 2018, the Riders have only lost 11 games and are 8-2 following a defeat.

However, the Riders did lose two in a row earlier this season, both to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“I think we’ve got a resilient bunch. I think we’ve got a bunch that’s got a lot of pride and anytime you get beat, you have a tendency to look in the mirror as a coach and a player,” Dickenson said.

“I’m hopeful we can do it this week. I think this week is going to be a real tell on our group. Win, lose or draw, we’ve got to play better.”

After hopefully enjoying a victory feast, the Riders will get some time off to rest and relax as they head into their second and final bye week.