Samuel Emilus has registered his highest receptions totals in the games of greatest magnitude.
He caught a career-high 10 passes for the Saskatchewan Roughriders en route to being named the Most Valuable Canadian in the 2025 Grey Cup Game — a 25-17 victory over the Montreal Alouettes.
Both of his nine-catch games have been against the B.C. Lions, during home playoff games in 2024 and 2025.
During the one post-season contest in which he did not catch at least nine passes, he scored a touchdown.
“Whenever you play in games like this, you have to be at your best,” Emilus said on Wednesday. “I know the team required this from me. I know that when the game is on the line, the ball is probably going to come my way.
“With the work that I put in during the off-season and during the season, I’ve got to show up. I pride myself in being accountable and having my coaches trust in me to make those plays.”
Emilus, whom Saskatchewan selected seventh overall in the 2022 CFL Canadian Draft, emerged as a premier playmaker as a second-year Roughrider.
He surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in 2023 and 2024, earning the team’s Most Outstanding Canadian award in both seasons.
Injuries limited Emilus to seven regular-season games in 2025. Over that time, he caught 37 passes for 588 yards.
Factor in the Western Final and the Grey Cup and Emilus made 56 receptions for 796 yards in nine games last season. Extrapolate those totals over 18 games — the length of each team’s regular-season schedule — and it works out to 112 catches and 1,592 yards.
Only once has a Roughrider caught at least 112 passes in a season. Don Narcisse amassed a Club-record 123 in 1995.
As for 1,592 yards, that would be the third-best total in franchise history. Joey Walters posted 1,715 receiving yards in 1981 and 1,692 the following year.
Elite company, indeed.
Emilus applies such a description to his cohorts on the Roughriders’ receiving corps — such as returning starters KeeSean Johnson, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Dhel Duncan-Busby.
“I think we’ve got another level we can achieve,” Emilus said. “Guys like me, KeeSean, Schaff and Dhel — the veterans of this group — can take it up another notch. By doing that, we’re going to bring the other guys along.
“We’re excited. We obviously know that we’re the champions, so other teams are going to bring their best against us. Because of that, we’re going to have to bring our best, also.”
Having completed the pre-season, the Roughriders are now winding down Coors Light Training Camp. Workouts are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, after which the team will begin a bye week.
The Green and White’s regular-season opener is a Week 2 meeting with B.C. on June 13 at Mosaic Stadium. (Tickets are AVAILABLE HERE.)
With an atypically long wait for the first game, what is the best way of ensuring peak preparedness for the much-anticipated matchup with B.C.?
“You’re going to have to stay in your books, for sure, and stay in shape,” Emilus replied. “We’ll have to bring some energy when the time finally comes.
“I know we’re going to have a lot of energy (on June 13), because it will be the championship-banner reveal. Obviously, we want to start the season with a win so we can get things rolling on the right foot.”
Emilus had eight catches in the 2025 opener versus the Ottawa REDBLACKS, tying his career regular-season high. He had three eight-catch games in 2024 and one last season.
Post-season included, Emilus is 12th in Roughriders history in games of seven or more receptions (10). Schaffer-Baker is 11th with 11.
The top 10 consists of Narcisse (38), Ray Elgaard (32), Weston Dressler (22), Walters (17), Naaman Roosevelt (16), Hugh Campbell (15), Lucius Floyd (13), Chris DeFrance (12), Matt Dominguez (12) and Andy Fantuz (12).
After only three seasons as a full-time starter, Emilus is already tied for 10th in franchise history in 100-yard receiving games.
Elgaard leads the way with 41, followed by Narcisse (35), Dressler (28), Walters (25), Jeff Fairholm (21), Campbell (17), DeFrance (16), Fantuz (11), Roosevelt (11), Dominguez (10), Emilus (10), Chris Getzlaf (10), Curtis Mayfield (10) and Bobby Thompson (10).
EXTREME ELEMENTS
On May 16 in Saskatoon, the Roughriders were forced to conduct a training camp walk-through indoors because of snow accumulation at Griffiths Stadium.
Just 11 days later, the Roughriders practised on a day when a heat warning was issued.
“Welcome to Saskatchewan, where we get to invest in any kind of weather,” Head Coach Corey Mace said on Wednesday. “It’s awesome.
“All over this country, you’re going to see all different types of weather. The fact that we get to practise in all of it in a short amount of time is, I think, an advantage for us. We try to soak that up and really approach that with the mindset of, ‘This is a good thing.’
“Mind you, I enjoy the heat. The wind was going crazy today. But we play games here and we’re expecting that, so that’s a plus.”
