Shawn Bane Jr. is hoping to finish in grand style.
Entering Saturday’s regular-season finale against the visiting Toronto Argonauts, the 28-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback needs just 32 yards to reach 1,000 for the first time since he was a collegian at Northwest Missouri State.
“That’s sick,” Bane Jr. said with a chuckle. “A year ago, I was on the practice squad in Calgary, so it’s super-humbling.
“I’ve always known that I can do it, so I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
With the Calgary Stampeders, he dressed for 13 games over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, catching 24 passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns.
A high-priority free-agent signing by Saskatchewan in February, he has a league-high 85 receptions for 968 yards and four majors in 17 games this season.
“I’ve always known it has been there,” Bane Jr. said. “It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity.
“To do it with three quarterbacks in one season, that’s pretty cool.”
For only the second time in franchise history, the Roughriders have three passers with at least 1,000 yards — Jake Dolegala (2,212), Trevor Harris (1,274) and Mason Fine (1,043).
Saskatchewan first fielded a 1,000-yard troika in 1983, when quarterbacks John Hufnagel (1,649), Joe Adams (1,529) and Homer Jordan (1,310) reached quadruple digits.
As for Bane Jr., he has not put up 1,000 receiving yards since 2015. In his first season with the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, he caught 82 passes for 1,207 yards in 15 NCAA games.
“I was so super-hungry,” he said, recalling his dazzling debut season of 2015. “I’m not saying that I’m not now, but I had just come off my redshirt year and it was just like madness.
“My OC (Charlie Flohr) was just drawing up plays. Pretty much the first drive, we were going deep the first play. It was just kind of the norm.
“To leave records there, it was pretty sick.”
Over four seasons at Northwest Missouri State, he caught 212 passes for 3,363 yards and 31 TDs, including 10 scores as a sophomore in 2016.
On the Beavers’ all-time list, he is fourth in receiving yards, fifth in TD catches and sixth in receptions. As well, his punt return average (11.9 yards) is third all-time.
Now the objective is to leave a legacy in Saskatchewan — ideally in collaboration with some of his closest friends.
Samuel Emilus needs only 40 receiving yards to hit 1,000 and thereby become the first second-year Canadian in franchise history to reach that milestone.
Bane Jr. and Emilus are on pace to give the Roughriders multiple 1,000-yard receivers for the 13th time in franchise history.
“It would be great,” Dolegala said. “We’ll get it done.”
Roughriders running back Jamal Morrow was asked on Tuesday if he, too, has pondered the possibility of reaching 1,000 yards.
“A little bit,” he said, breaking into a chuckle. “I think I’m at 114 (yards to go).
“It’s definitely circled by me, but the main thing is the win. If I get 114 and it gets us a win, I’m happy. Whatever it takes for us to win, that’s all I care about.
“We know that’s a possibility. If it’s there, we might as well try to get it, but the win’s important first.”
If not for a knee injury that sidelined him for two games, he would likely have exceeded 1,000 yards by now.
Last year, Morrow rushed for 666 yards in 12 games — a pace that would have put him at 999 yards (so close!) over 18 contests.
“Personally, as a running back, (1,000 yards) is what you want to get to,” he said. “There have been some down moments, but the opportunity is still there.
“I’m excited. I’m not one to set aside the team for personal (goals), but that’s something I’ve always wanted to achieve for myself.
“It would be huge to get, but it doesn’t matter if we don’t win.”
Morrow has reached the magic total of 114 rushing yards three times as a CFLer — once in 2022 (with 126 yards against the host Edmonton Elks on June 18) and twice this year (133 at Calgary on June 24; 120 versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Oct. 7).
When Morrow last reached 1,000 yards in a season, he more than doubled that total.
In 2012, he rushed for 2,092 yards at Heritage High School in Menifee, Calif., erasing the team record of 1,777 he had established the previous year.
MULTIPLE 1,000-YARD RECEIVING SEASONS IN ROUGHRIDERS HISTORY
1981 (2): Joey Walters (1,715); Chris DeFrance (1,195).
1982 (2): Joey Walters (1,692); Chris DeFrance (1,062).
1990 (2): Ray Elgaard (1,494); Don Narcisse (1,129).
1991 (3): Jeff Fairholm (1,239); Ray Elgaard (1,069); Don Narcisse (1,043).
1992 (3): Ray Elgaard (1,444); Jeff Fairholm (1,344); Don Narcisse (1,034).
1993 (3): Ray Elgaard (1,393); Jeff Fairholm (1,391); Don Narcisse (1,171).
1994 (2): Ray Elgaard (1,100); Don Narcisse (1,004).
2000 (2): Curtis Marsh (1,560); Eric Guliford (1,084).
2010 (2): Andy Fantuz (1,380); Weston Dressler (1,189).
2011 (2): Chris Getzlaf (1,071); Weston Dressler (1,061).
2013 (3): Chris Getzlaf (1,045); Weston Dressler (1,011): Taj Smith (1,007).
2017 (3): Duron Carter (1,043); Naaman Roosevelt (1,035); Bakari Grant (1,033).
