A.J. Ouellette appreciates the importance of the rushing game and the hushing game.
“It’s always good when you can quiet a crowd, no matter where you’re going,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ featured running back said heading into Saturday’s CFL game against the host Montreal Alouettes.
“If you can go into hostile history and listen to the crickets chirp and watch the seats clear out early, it’s nice.
“But the positive side of being a Rider is you get to see green everywhere you go, no matter if you’re east, west … anywhere.”
Montreal’s Percival Molson Memorial Stadium is one of the noisier CFL venues — even without Alouettes fans blasting airhorns, which were outlawed at the venue earlier this year.
“During game day, anything goes,” said an unbothered Corey Mace, the Roughriders’ Head Coach. “Noise is noise.”
A ground attack can lower the decibel level.
“The run game is always important,” said Ouellette, who is third in the league in rushing yards (490). “You want to shut up the crowd and quiet it down.
“It’s easier to run the ball just on simple cadences. When you’re in the pass game, you might want to go on ‘2’ to slow down the pass rush. If you can establish the run game early, it can quiet the crowd down and open up the cadence.”
Ouellette doesn’t necessarily plan to be quiet around Alouettes quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a former teammate in Toronto. They won a Grey Cup together with the Argonauts in 2022.
“Yeah, there’s a bond, and I feel a little at ease when I talk trash to him,” Ouellette said with a smile.
“If I wasn’t a teammate with him, he might just think I’m a loser. Now I can talk trash and walk away with a smile.”
SENIOR STADIUM
The Roughriders are preparing to visit a stadium that opened in 1915 — only five years after the Regina Rugby Club’s inception.
With that in mind, Saskatchewan quarterback (and ex-Alouette) Trevor Harris was asked if he can hear the ghosts when he enters Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
“Whenever I go to a stadium, it’s just 110 yards with 20 yards of end zone,” he replied.
“With Montreal, there’s a cut-off end zone. You’ve just got to play with the real estate you’re given and do the best you can each play and see where it comes up at the end of 60 minutes.”
The end zones in Montreal are rounded off because a running track encircles the field of play.
Do the different dimensions warrant some extra strategizing?
“Of course,” said Harris, a former Alouette. “When I was there in ’22, we threw a pass to Geno (Lewis) and he was out of bounds by a mere couple of inches (because of the end zone’s dimensions).
“Actually, we started practising at Percival Molson on Day 3, during red-zone day, because of that. At the practice field at the Big O, we were full end zones. You’ve got that extra space and it ended up costing us one time.
“You’ve just got to make sure that on Day 3 you understand that the cut-off end zones are going to be there.”
“HEAVYWEIGHT” BATTLE
The Roughriders carry the league’s best record (6-1) into a matchup with a 5-2 Montreal squad that shares first place in the East Division with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“This is kind of a big point in the season, because you’re playing against a heavyweight and we’re a heavyweight right now, I feel like,” Harris told CKRM’s Dave Thomas in Montreal on Friday.
“They’ve got all the makings of a championship-calibre team. We feel like we do, too, so it’s a fun time for us to come in here and have one of those litmus tests to see where we’re at.”
It will also be a physical test.
“We know who Montreal is and what their identity is,” defensive tackle Micah Johnson told CKRM’s voice of the Riders. “For us, it’s just understanding that you’re going to be in a physical battle.”
It promises to be an intriguing one indeed.
“It’ll be a tough test for us,” Harris said, “but we plan on being a tough test for them as well.”
SAM ON THE SIX-GAME
Receiver Samuel Emilus (knee) has been placed on the six-game injured list. It is the second setback this season for the two-time 1,000-yard receiver, who earlier missed three games with a foot injury.
In his place, Tommy Nield will make his first start as a Roughrider. Nield becomes the 36th Roughrider to draw a starting assignment on offence or defence this season.
“Sam was back for two weeks,” Harris said. “We just got a little tease from Sam.”
Emilus and another talented National pass-catcher, Kian Schaffer-Baker, are both on the six-game injured list. Schaffer-Baker suffered a foot injury early in the season opener.
Stepping in for Emilus will be Tommy Nield, who is poised to make his first start as a Roughrider. The front-line receiving corps also includes KeeSean Johnson, Dohnte Meyers, Joe Robustelli and Dhel Duncan-Busby.
“I’m pretty fired up about this group,” Harris said. “I think they’re going to do a great job.
“We’re not flinching. We’ve got a great group of guys and we’re excited about it.”
TOMMY’S TAKE
Earlier this week, Nield was asked for his thoughts on the environment of Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of McGill University.
“It’s loud. It’s a little dark. They’ve got the lights going,” Nield replied. “From having played there with Toronto, it’s a great environment.
“It’s a lot of fun playing in Montreal. It kind of feels like McGill Stadium is something out of Harry Potter. It’s a great atmosphere for the CFL and I’m always excited to play there.”
MONTREAL MEMORIES
The Roughriders’ statistical standards for games in Montreal are as follows …
Touchdowns: 3 — Tom Campana (three receptions), Sept. 16, 1973.
Field goals: 5 — Paul McCallum (5-5), Oct. 3, 1997.
Longest field goal: 53 — Paul Watson, Aug. 2, 1981.
Passing yards: 445 — Darian Durant, Aug. 6, 2010.
Completions: 35 — Darian Durant (35-62), Aug. 6, 2010.
Longest pass: 85 — Ron Lancaster to Rhett Dawson, July 29, 1975 (TD).
Touchdown passes: 5 — Joe Barnes, Aug. 2, 1981.
Receptions: 13 — Craig Ellis (99 yards), Oct. 6, 1984; Weston Dressler (169), Aug. 6, 2010.
Receiving yards: 179 — Weston Dressler (8), Aug. 21, 2009.
Rushing yards: 141 — George Reed (20 carries), Sept. 12, 1965.
Longest run: 60 — Bill Gray, Sept. 8, 1961.
Interceptions by: 2 — Neil Habig, Oct. 24, 1963; James Marshall, July 29, 1975; Marshall Hamilton, July 7, 1983; Trent Bryant, Oct. 17, 1986.
Longest interception return: 72 — Ted Dushinski, Oct. 4, 1967 (TD).
Fumble returns: 2 — Don Bahnuik, Sept. 16, 1973; Steve Conley, Oct. 11, 1999.
Longest fumble return: 55 — Earl Okine, Aug. 9, 2019 (TD).
Defensive tackles: 12 — Eddie Lowe, Oct. 6, 1984; Billy Jackson, Oct. 17, 1986.
Sacks: 2 — Vince Goldsmith, July 7, 1983; Reggie Hunt, Nov. 13, 2005 (playoffs); Marcus Adams, June 29, 2007; Luc Mullinder, June 29, 2007; Stevie Baggs, Aug. 21, 2009; Pete Robertson, Oct. 30, 2021; Jonathan Woodard, Oct. 30, 2021; Pete Robertson, June 23, 2022; Bryan Cox Jr., July 25, 2024.
Longest punt return: 68 — Terryl Ulmer, Oct. 3, 1997 (TD).
Longest kickoff return: 53 — Hugh Charles, July 24, 2011.
