Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coach Craig Dickenson often uses baseball parlance while describing an opponent as a “tough out.”
That is exactly what the Green and White has been against the B.C. Lions — one of the CFL’s elite teams — this season.
Exhibit A: On July 22, Saskatchewan held the Lions to 231 yards of net offence and one touchdown at BC Place Stadium, where the home team won 19-9.
Exhibit B: Nine days after losing 41-12 to the host Montreal Alouettes, the Roughriders responded by defeating the Lions 34-29 at Mosaic Stadium. That victory was followed by a 32-30 home-field conquest of the perennially powerful Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 3.
So now, facing a three-game losing streak, the Roughriders are poised to face the Lions once more. Friday’s game at BC Place is to begin at 8:30 p.m. (TSN, CKRM).
“We’ve just got to get back on track,” Roughriders quarterback Jake Dolegala said. “It’s a tough league to win games, no matter who you’re playing, so we’ve just got to focus on ourselves, execute, and turn this thing around.”
Much like the Roughriders began an earlier turnaround by knocking off the Lions on Aug. 20, when Dolegala threw three touchdown passes in his first start of the season.
“I still don’t think that was the best game we could play,” he noted, “but we can beat really good teams in this league.
“We have the weapons. When we play as a unit and we play together, we’re tough to beat. We’ve just got to do that this week.”
Despite the recent misfortunes, the Roughriders (6-8) are third in the five-team West Division and well-positioned to make the CFL playoffs.
Winnipeg and B.C. are tied for first at 10-4. Looking up at the Roughriders are the Stampeders (4-10) and Edmonton Elks (4-11).
“We just want to play as well as we can and we’ll let the score take care of itself,” Dickenson said.
“The goal is improvement. The guys know we’re going to have to string a few together here at the end and then hopefully get hot.
“Six wins isn’t going to get it done. Seven … probably not. Eight … maybe. We’re trying to get to nine.”
Jayden Dalke, meanwhile, will get to 11 — in terms of games played this season — when he starts at safety for the Roughriders on Friday.
His absence from the lineup due to a torn medial meniscus coincided with the three-game slide.
“Nobody wants to bask in a losing streak,” Dalke said. “We want to figure out something to turn it around.
“I don’t know if we get too caught up in the standings at all. We know that we’ve got to win a couple of more games and we’ve got to really peak at the right time in order to get to the dance.”
Some of the peak moments to this point in the season occurred during the aforementioned home game against B.C. on Aug. 20, when the Roughriders were the pace-setters physically from the opening kickoff.
“We’re going to definitely show the film (of that game) — I’m sure B.C. will show the film as well — and challenge our players,” Dickenson said earlier this week.
“We set the tone early on those first few kickoffs and I think it carried over into our whole team.
“Our guys know what we need to do to win and they know what they need to do individually to help us win.”
Part of Dickenson’s strategy, X’s and O’s aside, has been to maintain an upbeat, optimistic attitude in his interactions with the players.
“I think you respond better to positivity and, when you look on the bright side of things, you tend to play a little better and maybe be a little more resilient when you do hit some bumps in the road,” the Roughriders’ field boss noted.
“I’ve said this all along: This group is one of the hardest-working groups I’ve been around and it’s a pleasure to work with them every day. I hope we can put it together on the road against B.C. I think we’re going to have a very good game.”
