As the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the the BC Lions in CFL action in Regina, SK, June 13, 2026. Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
A.J. Ouellette’s most spectacular play during the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ season opener wasn’t reflected on the stats sheet.
Ouellette applied a resounding block on a blitzing B.C. Lions defensive player in the fourth quarter, buying an extra split-second for Trevor Harris to launch a game-winning touchdown pass to Samuel Emilus in a 31-27 victory.
“I take pride in blocking just as much as I do in running the ball,” Ouellette said after the Roughriders practised at Mosaic Stadium on Tuesday.
There are blocks, and then there are collisions that send the opponent cartwheeling. That is exactly what happened to Deontai Williams shortly before Harris — wearing his trademark No. 7 — found Emilus for a six-yard score with 46 seconds left.
“Whenever you see a DB coming off the edge, you know they’re going to dip inside, run away or try to jump,” Ouellette said. “He jumped and I just did my job, right? Coach said, ‘If they jump, they don’t land on their feet.’
“After I hit him, I thought, ‘That was pretty cool.’ Then I thought, ‘Ohhhh … bad word. Where is 7?’ I didn’t want him to land on 7.”
No such worries.
It turns out that Ouellette blew up his phone as well as the opposition’s attempt at blitzing.
“I had that one sent to me about 500 times,” the Roughriders’ featured running back said. “I’ve watched it a few times.
“The majority of it was college teammates and family members sending it to me … my uncle, my dad. Well, I had to send it to my dad, because he doesn’t know how to work technology and all that.”
Ouellette carried the ball 15 times for a game-high 69 yards on Saturday. He rushed for 1,222 yards — the second-best total in the league — last season.
ACTION JAXON
Jaxon Ford performed admirably after entering Saturday’s game with 3½ minutes left in the second quarter.
Ford took over at safety after Nelson Lokombo moved to defensive halfback following a shoulder injury sustained by perennial All-CFL selection Rolan Milligan Jr.
Although the Roughriders were forced to make adjustments in the secondary, Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke — the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player — was held without a touchdown pass.
“That’s just being a pro, right?” Ford said after Tuesday’s practice. “That’s what it’s about. When your name is called, the standard doesn’t change. You’ve just got to be ready to go in and do your job.”
Milligan Jr. did not practise on Tuesday, when the Roughriders (1-0) began on-field preparations for Saturday’s game against the host Calgary Stampeders (0-1).
“It might be a couple of weeks for Ro,” Head Coach Corey Mace said when asked about Milligan Jr.’s status. “But that guy is a superhuman. Whatever the timeline is, that’s for the average Joe. I wouldn’t put it past Ro to be back sooner than expected.”
You never want to be without a player of Milligan Jr.’s calibre for any duration but, considering the discomfort he appeared to be in at the time of the injury, the prognosis provides an element of relief.
“We’re in a sport where there’s probably a 100-per-cent injury rate throughout your career,” Mace said. “Some of it’s kind of luck. With this situation, that’s exactly what it is. We’re lucky it’s not super long-term.”
HUGHES NEWS
First-year CFLer JuJu Hughes took first-team reps at Milligan Jr.’s accustomed defensive halfback spot on Tuesday.
“(Hughes) worked there throughout training camp,” Mace noted. “We moved him some other places as well.
“He had a hellacious college career and has obviously made some good plays at the pro level. We were happy as ever to finally get him to come to the Green and White. He has been as advertised for us.”
Hughes, a former teammate of Roughriders receiver KeeSean Johnson at Fresno State, signed with Saskatchewan on March 19 and spent Week 1 of the 2026 regular season on the practice roster.
Like Milligan Jr., Hughes has joined the Roughriders as a 27-year-old after playing in the NFL.
Milligan Jr. arrived in Saskatchewan in 2021 with 11 games of NFL experience, all with the Indianapolis Colts. Hughes played in 19 games with the Los Angeles Rams (2020-21) and seven with the Detroit Lions (2022).
“His career is kind of timed up similar to mine,” Hughes said of Milligan Jr. “He’s definitely someone I can kind of lean on and take some notes from.
“I’ve always tried to take some nuggets from his game, even when I wasn’t playing last week and I was on the sidelines. I was asking him what he was seeing.
“When you’ve got a great player like that, you always want to talk ball and bounce things off each other. I’ll definitely be leaning on him. Ro’s a great guy and he’s going to be there taking me along this whole week.”
HARRIS UP HIGH
Harris was among three Player of the Week selections announced by the league on Tuesday.
He was joined by two members of the Montreal Alouettes — quarterback Davis Alexander and receiver Tyson Philpot.
Harris completed 30 of 36 passes for 417 yards, with three touchdowns. He reached 400 passing yards for the 10th time in his career and three TD passes for the 25th time.
All six of the CFL’s starting quarterbacks had strong performances in Week 2. Harris led them all in efficiency rating (147.6).
Entering the Calgary game, Harris needs one TD pass to tie former Ottawa REDBLACKS teammate Henry Burris for sixth on the Roughriders’ All-Time list.
Ron Lancaster leads the way with 299 TD passes, followed by Kent Austin (152), Darian Durant (149), Frank Tripucka (83), Tom Burgess (74), Burris (54) and Harris (53).
Harris is also close to becoming the seventh player to pass for 10,000 yards as a Roughrider. Lancaster leads the top seven at 46,710, followed by Durant (28,507), Austin (26,626), Tripucka (14,387), Burgess (11,850), Cody Fajardo (10,632) and Harris (9,504).
