The CFL’s 2026 pre-season schedule opened on Monday with the Calgary Stampeders’ 20-15 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I thought the effort was good,” Head Coach Corey Mace told CKRM after the game. “We just missed on some detail stuff.”
Saskatchewan rested several key veterans — such as quarterback Trevor Harris, running back A.J. Ouellette, receivers Samuel Emilus, Kian Schaffer-Baker and KeeSean Johnson, offensive linemen Logan Ferland and Jermarcus Hardrick, defensive tackle Mike Rose, defensive end James Vaughters, linebacker Jameer Thurman, and defensive backs Marcus Sayles and Rolan Milligan Jr.
Most of them are expected to play on Saturday against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5 p.m., Griffiths Stadium).
Tickets for the first CFL pre-season game in Saskatoon since 1991 are AVAILABLE HERE.
“We’ll have some add-ons (to the playbook during practice this week),” Mace said, “but ultimately we need to evaluate these players and find the best guys who can help us moving forward.”
At McMahon Stadium on Victoria Day, Calgary opened the scoring with a 70-yard touchdown bomb from Vernon Adams Jr. to Jalen Philpot at 9:04 of the first quarter. Jude McAtamney added the convert.
Saskatchewan narrowed the gap to 7-3 when Jonathan Kim kicked a 45-yard field goal at 13:12 of the opening frame.
Another Saskatchewan field goal — a 28-yarder by Alex Hale at 5:23 of the second quarter — reduced the Stampeders’ lead to 7-6.
Calgary went up 14-6 when McAtamney converted a one-yard TD run by quarterback Josh Love, who scored 1:19 before halftime.
McAtamney’s 42-yard field goal gave the home side a 17-6 lead at 12:52 of the third quarter.
Kim’s 33-yard field goal, at 2:22 of the fourth frame, narrowed the gap to eight points (17-9).
Dawson Hodge, who attended training camp with Saskatchewan last year, countered with a 43-yard field goal at 5:48 of the fourth quarter.
On the game’s final possession, Saskatchewan marched 74 yards in eight plays, the last of which was a 20-yard TD run by quarterback Brayden Schager. Schager’s score, with five seconds remaining, was followed by an unsuccessful two-point convert attempt.
Jack Coan started at quarterback for Saskatchewan and played the entire first half, completing nine of 15 passes for 98 yards, with an interception. He had a game-high 22 rushing yards, on three carries, at halftime.
The Roughriders’ Tommy Stevens was behind centre for most of the second quarter. He was 2-for-4 for 11 yards. As well, he rushed for five yards on two short-yardage plays.
Schager, who entered the game after McAtamney’s 42-yarder late in the third quarter, was 10-for-18 for 139 yards. He also rushed five times for a game-high 41 yards.
“Jack was dialled,” Mace said of the quarterbacking, “and Schager had some really good reps as well.”
AUSSIE’S BOOMER
Jesse Mirco’s 77-yard punt was his longest as a Roughrider. The Australian-born punter’s previous high was 69 yards, for a single in the 2025 Grey Cup Game.
Although the 77-yarder rolled out of bounds in the end zone, it did not produce a single point — the first evidence of a rule change that has been implemented in 2026.
Under the new rule, a single will not be awarded if the ball is not touched in the end zone.
EXTRA POINTS
• Saskatchewan safety Nelson Lokombo intercepted a deep pass by Adams Jr. in the first quarter.
• Chico Bennett Jr., Davin Vann and Kendy Charles recorded sacks for Saskatchewan. David Gbenda had a tackle for a loss.
• Defensive back JuJu Hughes led the Roughriders in defensive tackles (six) and added a special teams stop.
• Mathew Sexton, signed by Saskatchewan just six days ago, caught five passes for 78 yards. He was targeted nine times. Juwann Winfree added four receptions for 35 yards. Abdul Janneh Jr. caught three passes for 44 yards.
• Sexton’s 53-yard missed field goal return was the second-longest by a Roughrider in a pre-season game. Quincy Walden took off on an 87-yarder against Winnipeg on June 10, 2017, in the first game played at new Mosaic Stadium.
• Saskatchewan was 3-for-4 on field-goal attempts. Kim was 2-for-2. Hale was 1-for-2, with the miss being from 56 yards.
• Saskatchewan had 21 first downs. Calgary moved the chains 16 times. The Roughriders had a slight edge in net offence (329-325).
