The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ special teams did something special Saturday.
In the grand scheme of things, however, the accomplishment — returning a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in the same game — didn’t matter to one of its two architects.
“As good as that was, it still kind of hurt to not win that game,” returner Marcus Thigpen said after the Roughriders’ 30-25 CFL loss to the Ottawa Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium. “To have that accolade for myself and (Kyran Moore) is a great accomplishment, but we’d much rather have that win instead.
“We wanted to keep that (winning) streak going and put ourselves in position to have a home playoff game and we didn’t get that done.”
The first part of the daily double occurred right off the hop Saturday, as Thigpen accepted the game’s opening kickoff and sprinted 97 yards for a touchdown.
It was Saskatchewan’s first major on a kickoff return since Corey Holmes went 81 yards with the opening kickoff against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers in what turned into a 42-15 Roughriders win on June 25, 2005.
On Saturday, Moore completed the rare feat at 1:46 of the third quarter, returning a Richie Leone punt 90 yards for a major that cut the Redblacks’ lead to 20-16.
It was Moore’s second punt-return TD of the season — he also had a 65-yarder against Winnipeg in the Labour Day Classic on Sept. 2 — and the Roughriders’ 12th return TD of the campaign (six interceptions, three punts, two fumbles and one kickoff).
The last time the Roughriders had punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same game was Aug. 17, 2003, when Kevin Nickerson (96-yard kickoff return) and Holmes (87-yard punt return) turned the trick in a 51-41 victory over the visiting Ottawa Renegades.
The last time it happened in the CFL was Sept. 18, 2015, when the B.C. Lions’ Chris Rainey returned a punt 103 yards and a kickoff 103 yards for TDs in a 35-23 loss to the host Calgary Stampeders.
Thigpen finished Saturday’s game with five kickoff returns for 188 yards and Moore had six punt returns for 153 yards.
“The kickoff gave us confidence and then the punt return also gave us confidence,” Moore said. “It’s just tough (that the two returns didn’t lead to a victory).”
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In the days leading up to the game, Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones called Redblacks tailback William Powell “a thorn in our side.”
In his four previous career games against Saskatchewan, Powell had rushed 63 times for 389 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers included a 19-carry, 94-yard performance in the teams’ meeting in Ottawa on June 21.
On Saturday, Powell did his thing again, rushing 18 times for 148 yards with 19- and 69-yard touchdown runs. He also recorded a two-point convert.
“How many times did it look like we had him down and he was able to squirt through and continue to move his feet?” Jones said. “He has got tremendous vision and then, once he hits it, you saw it (on his long TD). When you can outrun our defence, you’re fast.
“He’s a great back and that’s exactly how I’ll describe him again: He is a thorn in our side. He plays good every time we play against him.”
Jones predicted Friday that the Redblacks would try to establish the run in the contest — and he was right. Thanks to Powell’s success, Ottawa ran the ball 24 times (four more than its season average going into the game) and attempted 35 passes (five fewer than its average).
“He’s just such a patient running back that it’s hard to really grab him in the backfield,” said Saskatchewan linebacker Sam Eguavoen. “Then, if you overrun the ball, it’s going to be a long day for you.
“On that (69-yard) touchdown, he found a crease and he got gone with it.”
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Roughriders quarterback Zach Collaros stepped up and took the blame for the offence’s struggles Saturday, suggesting at one point that “the buck stops with me.”
He noted there were a handful of plays that were the difference in 
the game, even with the way the offence played throughout the contest. Had those plays gone the other way, Collaros said, the outcome could have been different.
One of those plays was his pass attempt to Josh Stanford that was intercepted by Jonathan Rose at the Ottawa one-yard line. The Redblacks subsequently marched 109 yards the other way for a major.
“Given the situation — I think it was 14-10 at the time — when you get down there with our kicker, it’s a guaranteed three points,” Collaros said in reference to Brett Lauther. “I have to make a better decision and, if that’s the decision I make, I have to throw a better ball.”
Saskatchewan had 240 yards of net offence, its second-lowest output of the season. The Roughriders had 239 net yards against Calgary on July 28.
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The Redblacks have played five regular-season games in Regina since they were born as an expansion team prior to the 2014 CFL season.
After Saturday, those five games have been decided by a total of 13 points. Including the teams’ five regular-season meetings in Ottawa, the all-time series features 10 games — and seven of them have been decided by five points or less.
“For some reason, Ottawa gives us the biggest trouble out of all the teams in the CFL, even more than Calgary,” Roughriders offensive tackle Thaddeus Coleman said. “They’re well-coached, they’re well-disciplined and they play to their strengths. That’s what they did tonight and they got the win on us.”
In regular-season action, Ottawa is now 3-2-0 against Saskatchewan in Regina and 2-3-0 against the Roughriders in the nation’s capital. Saskatchewan also beat the host Redblacks in the 2017 Eastern Semi-Final.
