Cameron Marshall had a one-word answer when asked to describe the past six weeks.
“Boring,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders tailback said with a laugh.
Marshall injured his left knee in Saskatchewan’s 38-24 CFL victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 3 and subsequently was put on the Roughriders’ six-game injured list.
Now healthy, Marshall is slated to play Friday when the Roughriders visit the Calgary Stampeders.
“It has been a process getting back and getting the knee feeling good,” he said. “I’ve been working hard with the trainers and they’ve been doing a great job.
“I’m just glad to be back on the field. I missed playing and being out there. It’s good to get back in the flow of things.”
Marshall had 87 carries for 490 yards and two touchdowns and 29 receptions for 278 yards and two TDs through Saskatchewan’s first nine games. In the six games since, the tailbacks — Kienan LaFrance, Greg Morris and Trent Richardson — have combined to rush 73 times for 290 yards and two TDs and catch 13 passes for 125 yards and one major.
While that trio was trying to fill Marshall’s shoes, he was trying to get himself back to 100 per cent.
“At first, it’s about mentally getting right and getting to a place where you’re feeling good,” he said. “I was trying to think positively every day and get my body back to feeling the way it needs to be feeling.
“Then, after that, I’m trying to stay invested as far as football goes — being in the meetings, hearing the plays and being there so I don’t miss too much stuff. Then, when I come back, it’s not like I missed six weeks and I’m just getting thrown back into it.”
LaFrance has been placed on the one-game injured list, so Marshall and Richardson will likely alternate during Friday’s game as the Roughriders look to add what head coach-GM Chris Jones called “a little punch” to the running game.
Marshall hopes the offence can pick things up where it left off when he was the starter — and he also hopes he’s at the same level he was before the injury.
“I’m feeling pretty good, so I think I can play at full speed,” he said. “Football’s not really a thing where you can say, ‘Let me just test it out in this game and do things halfway.’ That’s how you get hurt, so whatever they have for my role, I’m going to play hard.”
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Dan Clark’s wait to get back into the lineup was even longer than the one endured by Marshall.
Clark started six games at centre before injuring his left elbow in a game against the B.C. Lions on Aug. 5. He has been on the six-game injured list twice since then.
But on Monday, Clark was activated off that list early and he’ll start against the Stampeders. That will allow Brendon LaBatte to return to his normal guard spot, where he’ll replace the injured Derek Dennis.
“I couldn’t wait (to return), from the moment it happened until now,” Clark said Tuesday. “I’ve stayed prepared, I’ve stayed ready and hopefully I can contribute to the team and be as good as I can be.”
Clark didn’t require surgery to repair his elbow, but he did spend time in a cast. The past two-plus months were filled with rehabilitation, working out, watching film and doing what he could to help the other offensive linemen as they prepared for games.
“That’s something that has been taught to me over the years by guys like Chris Best,” Clark said, referring to the former Roughriders guard. “No matter what happens, it’s about continuing to grind.”
Even so, Clark went through some tough times as he waited to return to the lineup.
“No matter what — whether it’s an injury, getting sat down or anything like that — it plays on a person,” he said. “It’s the people around you who make you get better and stay consistent with what you’re doing.
“That’s something I attribute to the guys in the locker room and to my family, and that has driven me to get back.”
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Clark and Marshall return to a team that is averaging a CFL-worst 70.0 yards rushing per game this season.
Saskatchewan hasn’t had 100 yards rushing in a contest since Aug. 13, when it recorded exactly 100 against the visiting Lions.
“From the start of camp until Grey Cup, you want to have a dominating run performance,” Clark said. “We just have to continue to get better as a unit and continue to take steps in the right direction.
“Coming down to these cold-weather games, (the running attack) is something we need to rely on. It’s not about me and it’s not about Cam. It’s about gelling as a unit and getting done what we need to get done.”
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On Tuesday, Roughriders receiver Duron Carter was named one of the CFL’s top performers for Week 17.
Carter set a single-game career high with 231 receiving yards in Saskatchewan’s 33-32 loss to the visiting Ottawa Redblacks on Friday. He also tied a single-game career best with 11 receptions and went over 1,000 yards receiving for the second time in his career.
