WINNIPEG — Eddie Steele knows what’s coming.
Steele’s Saskatchewan Roughriders are to face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday at Investors Group Field (noon, CKRM, TSN) in a CFL game that checks off a lot of boxes.
“It’s going to be a physical game and it’s going to be a good battle, just like it always is whenever these two teams match up.”
Rivalry game: Yep.
Playoff implications: Absolutely.
Bragging rights if there’s a sweep of the season series: You betcha.
“We’re in for something good,” said Steele, the Roughriders’ veteran defensive tackle. “It’s a desperation game for both teams. We haven’t achieved the goal that we want to achieve and Winnipeg is a hungry team trying to achieve the goals that they had set out to achieve.
“It’s going to be a physical game and it’s going to be a good battle, just like it always is whenever these two teams match up.”
The Roughriders clinched a playoff spot Monday when they beat the Edmonton Eskimos 19-12 at Mosaic Stadium. No matter what happens between now and the end of the regular season, Saskatchewan can’t finish any lower than fourth in the West Division — which means the Green and White is in the playoffs.
The final four weeks of the regular season will determine where the Roughriders will finish in the West and whether they’ll remain in the division for the post-season or cross over into the East Division.
If Saskatchewan wins Saturday and the B.C. Lions lose to the Calgary Stampeders later in the day, the Roughriders will clinch a home playoff game.
“Everybody plays a little bit better when you’ve got that fire on your back trying to keep you from losing, knowing that if you lose it’s going to be worse off for your team,” defensive end Willie Jefferson said when asked about playing in meaningful games. “If we win, it’ll be easier for us to solidify that home-game playoff spot.”
If Winnipeg wins Saturday … well, break out the abacus.
At the very least, a Bombers victory would keep them alive in the race for second place in the West and give them a chance at home-field advantage.
While the Roughriders have clinched a spot, the Bombers, Lions and Eskimos are still in the hunt. Those three teams are desperate for wins — but that’s not the Roughriders’ concern.
“We’re just trying to keep that mindset 
that we want to be going into playoffs on a streak,” linebacker Sam Hurl said. “Every game for us is very important regardless of whether we’ve clinched. We want to try to win out and be as good as we can be heading into these playoffs feeling confident.”
The Roughriders still have a shot at first place, too. They’re four points back of Calgary and the teams are to meet Oct. 27 in the Alberta city in a game that could decide top spot in the West.
But each team has a game to play Saturday and the Roughriders certainly aren’t putting the cart before the horse.
“There still are a lot of teams that are in contention, especially in the West, for the playoff race,” Roughriders quarterback Zach Collaros said. “We’re really just focused on this game and not trying to think too far down the road.”
The Roughriders and Bombers have met twice already this season, with Saskatchewan winning 31-23 in the Labour Day Classic on Sept. 2 and 32-27 in Winnipeg on Sept. 8.
The Roughriders haven’t swept a three-game season series since 2014, when they turned the trick against Winnipeg. Saskatchewan has had two opportunities to sweep teams in each of the previous three seasons (Winnipeg and B.C. in 2015, Edmonton and B.C. in 2016, and Winnipeg and Calgary in 2017) but never came close to accomplishing the feat.
Asked earlier this week about taking three games from a team in one season, Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones replied: “It’s tough to beat any team one time, much less beating them three times.”
“Teams have that extra motivation because they don’t want to get swept and, with the stakes what they are right now, it’s very important (to not suffer a sweep),” Steele noted.
“They’re going to give us their best shot, no doubt about it. At the same time, we’re preparing to give them our best shot. We know what’s at stake — and we want to sweep them.”
The Bombers were 2-3-0 through their first five games this season before winning three in a row. A four-game losing skid followed, during which many CFL observers started writing off Winnipeg.
But the Bombers have won their past three, and Jones said Friday that they “probably are playing the best football in our league.”
“Seeing them coming out of it, I’m not really surprised,” said Hurl, who spent the previous three seasons with Winnipeg. “I know they’re a tight group and they’re working hard. They’re trying to come together as a team and I think they’ve done that; that’s why they started winning a bit more.
“The little things are starting to go a little more right for them as opposed to before when they just weren’t getting those plays they needed.”
The Roughriders expect to see a lot of Bombers tailback Andrew Harris, who entered the week as the CFL’s second-leading rusher with 1,233 yards. Winnipeg has scored a league-high 429 offensive points this season and has a league-best 131 points off turnovers.
Saskatchewan’s defence was the difference in the Sept. 8 game — Jefferson and linebacker Sam Eguavoen both returned interceptions for touchdowns that day — and it has been the Roughriders’ best unit throughout the season.
Not surprisingly, Jones is expecting a battle.
“They’re a very well-coached football team, they’re physical and we’re going into their place,” he said. “We’ve got to bring our ‘A’ game.”
