The language heard by members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the annual Labour Day rematch can be, appropriate to the predominant colour scheme at Winnipeg’s IG Field, blue.
“It’s all rude,” veteran linebacker Derrick Moncrief says with a laugh. “It’s BLEEP! BLEEP! That’s all you hear.”
That assessment is confirmed by long snapper Jorgen Hus, a member of the Green and White since 2015.
“It’s very loud … very hostile,” he said. “The fans are saying everything in the book.
“You’re getting flipped off by people from age nine all the way to 80, it seems, giving you the double-birds.
“But it’s fun. It’s what you want to be in — a loud, hostile environment — and if you can hopefully come out of there with a win, it feels good.”
After back-to-back wins this season, the Roughriders are poised to face the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday (2 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
When the arch-rivals collided in Sunday’s Labour Day Classic, Saskatchewan posted a 32-30 overtime victory. Now the objective is to bounce the Blue Bombers, a perennial CFL powerhouse, once more.
“They’re a really good team,” Hus said. “It’s going to be hard. We’re going to have to play a lot better than we did last week. We’re going to have to do more, for sure, to come out on top.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us, but it’s a fun environment to play in and we’re all looking forward to it.”
That sentiment is echoed by Moncrief, even though a customarily chilly reception awaits the Roughriders.
“One word: Hostile,” he stated. “I mean, it’s a great environment to play in.
“Anytime you’re on the opposing team — especially me, playing defence — you always want to quiet a crowd. They want to go crazy and make deep shots with the quarterback. We try to neutralize that as much as we can.”
The objective: Sustained silence.
“That’s what you want to do,” Moncrief confirmed. “You want to be able to hear a pin drop in the stadium, when the game’s over or when they miss a big play.
“That’s our goal on defence. We’re coming in to wreck the show.”
DINNER WITH DICKIE? DOUBTFUL!
Craig Dickenson expects to hear from his, er, fan club on Saturday.
“It’ll be crazy-hostile,” the Roughriders’ Head Coach said. “I hear from the same two dudes behind the bench every year. I don’t even know who they are, but they do not like me. I don’t get any invitations to Christmas dinner from them.
“And I think they’ve got a little bit of an axe to grind. They’re not used to coming into that game on the short end of the first one, so it’s going to be fun.”
The Roughriders had prevailed 28 times in a stretch of 35 Labour Day Classics before Winnipeg won at Mosaic Stadium in September of 2021 and 2022.
“S” = STRESS
The Roughriders’ six victories this season have been by a combined margin of 17 points.
Average points disparity: 2.83.
“You’d better have a good field-goal kicker,” said a chuckling Dickenson, whose roster includes Brett Lauther — who has made 18 consecutive attempts at a three-pointer.
“We practise a lot of situational football. We feel confident that if it comes down to the last drive — either on a defensive stop or if we’re counting on the offensive line to get us in field-goal range — we can (succeed).
“We’ll take it. We’d like to win by more, but the main thing is that we want to execute and be on the positive side of that score at the end of the day.”
ACTION JAXON
Jaxon Ford is to make his first CFL start on Saturday.
The 23-year-old grandson of Roughriders legend Alan Ford steps in at safety for the injured Jayden Dalke (knee).
The last time a member of the Ford family started in Winnipeg, it was way back on Oct. 12, 1975. Alan Ford, playing tight end, caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Ron Lancaster to help Saskatchewan win 20-14 at Winnipeg Stadium.
The Blue Bombers were also the opponent on Oct. 24, 1976, when Alan Ford played in his 179th consecutive game — his last in the CFL, as it turned out.
Mr. Versatility was soon forced to retire due to a neck injury that had bothered him for most of the 1976 season.
At halftime of that Oct. 24, 1976 game, played at Taylor Field, Ford was involved in a halftime ceremony that honoured George Reed a few months after he retired from football.
Jaxon Ford, formerly of the Campbell Tartans and University of Regina Rams, was the Roughriders’ second-round choice (11th overall) in the 2023 CFL Draft.
SHORT SNORTS
- Lauther’s aforementioned streak of 18 consecutive successful field-goal attempts is the second-longest of his career. He made 27 in a row in 2018. On Sunday, he went 5-for-5, with the fourth three-pointer being his 200th in the CFL.
- The Roughriders’ Shawn Bane Jr. has 60 receptions, which tie him for the league lead with Austin Mack (Montreal Alouettes) and Reggie Begelton (Calgary Stampeders). Bane Jr. is third in the league in targets (85), behind Mack (89) and Begelton (87).
- Roughriders middle linebacker Larry Dean has 530 career defensive tackles — 32nd on the CFL’s all-time list. He is close to overtaking Matt Finlay (who is 30th at 537) and Otis Floyd (31st, 536). With 65 tackles this season, Dean is tied with the B.C. Lions’ Bo Lokombo for third in the league, behind Calgary’s Micah Awe (86) and the Edmonton Elks’ Nyles Morgan (74).
- On Saturday, left guard Evan Johnson will miss his first game since joining the Roughriders in 2021. He suffered a foot injury near halftime on Sunday but nonetheless completed the game. Logan Bandy will start at left guard on Saturday. Zack Fry will dress as the sixth offensive lineman. Another alteration to the offensive line configuration: Brandon Council starts at right tackle for Colin Kelly, who will be out for an extended period with a knee injury.
- With Pete Robertson serving a one-game, league-issued suspension for head-butting Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros late in Sunday’s game, Cody Roscoe appears on the Roughriders’ active roster for the first time this season. Roscoe will start at defensive end. He appeared in two games last season. As well, he registered a sack on June 3, when Saskatchewan posted a 28-16 pre-season victory at IG Field.
