When the Riders return home to face the Edmonton Elks, the lights at Mosaic Stadium will be aphotic – a cool word, effectively meaning “lightless”. There will be a bright light however, at the end of the regular season tunnel as the home team looks to further secure their position in the 2023 CFL playoffs with a win over a visiting Edmonton squad. If they were to secure a win versus the Elks, the Riders would then require only a Week 19 victory in Calgary to guarantee a season extension. There are, of course, other ways the Green & White can get in—preferably with a nice, long winning streak down the stretch.
So, as if you need further reason to be in attendance, let’s disperse with the statistical and get into the fun and games behind the game.
A fan-favourite, spooky-season spectacle, The Lights Out Game presented by NexGen Energy, boasts the type of pre-game hype that will have even the most passive fan ready to run through a wall—and straight into the line for a Vizzy hard seltzer . The party-like atmosphere can be felt throughout the stands, emanating from a Coors Light Party in the Park featuring a DJ battle that’ll have it feeling more like Ultra Music Festival than whatever Edmonton probably does before their games. While it’s not like us to fire those kinds of shots at opposing teams – save for Winnipeg – the “Lights Out Game” just breeds a sort of intensity that’s hard to match—even in Riderville.
Step inside as one of the first 7,000 spectators and you’ll become a part of the show with a limited edition set of shades straight-out of a scene from Tron! The vibes will continue with a march toward kickoff that’ll have fans doused in the stylings of Daft Punk and Deadmau5 when we turn the stadium speakers up to “thirteen”. That kind of chest-pounding preamble can only be followed by one thing … the most iconic “Bring ‘Em Out” of the season, when a group of green-clad gladiators emerge from the darkness, ready to fly in the night like the fireworks they’ll prompt when they break the plane near Pil Country—sending Saskatchewan’s finest into a frenzy!
There’s also a football game happening, and the Riders come in with a group that’s looking to burn out some bulbs on the SaskTel MaxTron after being stifled in a recent rematch, which is likely to have lit the spark for redemption. As the fireworks would imply, fans can look to the skies as the air game aims to again be on display with multiple showstoppers set to bounce back in a big way on home turf. Boasting a full complement of receivers ready to “black out” on an Edmonton secondary that has allowed more than a few big play balls, and defense and special teams units prone to big plays of their own, we’re likely to see an invigorated hometown team make a statement in a critical Week 15 matchup.
So grab your tickets and your earplugs if you need ‘em, because we’re turning out the Friday Night Lights and looking to Rider Nation to set the night alight come 7:30 on September 15th.
