Riders ready to face Calgary in final 2024 regular season contest

The Saskatchewan Roughriders head into their regular season finale today looking for a fifth win in a row — and possibly a chance to get a first-round bye.

Saskatchewan (9-7-1) hosts the Calgary Stampeders with kickoff set for 5 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-7) will take on the Montreal Alouettes (12-4-1) with kickoff set for 1 p.m. in that contest.

If the Bombers win, the Riders will be locked into second place in the CFL West Division. If Winnipeg loses, the Riders could then finish first in the west for the first time since 2019 with a win over the Stamps.

Quarterback Trevor Harris said he will try his best to not pay too much attention to the Bombers game.

“My son T.J. Acts like an announcer — he turns the volume down and acts like an announcer. I’m going to be hearing from T.J. probably what’s going on in the game and then when we get (to the stadium), you probably won’t be able to not hear what’s going on from people around the stadium,” Harris said.

“My eyes are just fully locked in on getting ready to play because if we have any sort of eye on that game and we’re not focused fully on Calgary, this is professional football and make no mistake about it — they could really hurt us.”

The Riders released their depth chart with a number of players listed as game-time decisions, allowing head coach Corey Mace to make some changes if Saturday’s showdown ultimately means nothing in the standings.

Defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. — who was named the team nominee for three awards including Most Outstanding Player earlier in the week — wide receiver KeeSean Johnson, running back AJ Ouellette, slotback Sam Emilus, and wide receiver Colton Hunchak all carry that designation heading into the game.

With the amount of injuries and adversity the team has faced this year, Mace believes that every player knows their number could be called at any point.

“Guys mentally are prepared, whether it is mental reps, practice reps, or walk-through reps, they are prepared to go,” Mace said.

While the Stampeders are coming into the game with a 4-12-1 record with their season ending on Saturday no matter the result, the Riders aren’t taking the Stamps lightly. Saskatchewan won the earlier meeting between the two clubs 37-29.

“They are professional athletes. If you’re out here just collecting pay checks, you’re not going to last long,” said Ouellette. “We’re going to get their best. They are competitors at heart, and everybody wants to win.”

With quarterback Matthew Shiltz missing the game due to injury, Jake Maier is set to start in the position today. Maier has started a majority of the games for the Stamps this season, throwing for 3,546 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

“We just expect them to come out and do what they do on a regular basis,” linebacker Jameer Thurman said. “It’s really not about them, it’s more about us. It’s about us keeping that momentum going into the playoffs. We want to be sharp and want to be executing well and making sure the execution is on point.”

The Riders have faced plenty of adversity this year, going on a seven-game winless streak in the middle of the season.

But the team has now won four straight games, which includes a 28-24 win over the Edmonton Elks to qualify for playoffs and then a 39-8 win over the B.C. Lions in the team’s last outing to secure a home playoff date.

With the postseason on the horizon, Mace said one of the biggest things a team can do at this point in the season is fight complacency.

“We are in no position to be complacent with where we are at or what we’ve done,” Mace said. “Really trying to house a playoff mentality and, truthfully, we kind of have this back half of the season.

“The main thing is we want to continue to take the next step based off of whatever we did. We set a bar for ourselves with our last game, and this week we have to take another step.”

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