Tommy Stevens has rushed for two touchdowns each of the last two times the Saskatchewan Roughriders have travelled for a game.
However, the Roughriders’ next game — Friday’s collision with the Toronto Argonauts — is to be played at Mosaic Stadium.
“I guess I’ll have to find a way to get on a bus at some point before the game and try to pretend,” Stevens said with a laugh.
One thing, though. The Roughriders are technically the visiting team on Friday. The Argonauts scheduled a “home” game for Mosaic Stadium because their Toronto-based venue, BMO Field, is booked for soccer’s World Cup.
So maybe, just maybe, the circumstances are aligned perfectly for Stevens to enjoy yet another multi-TD game.
Most memorably, the Roughriders’ short-yardage quarterback scored twice in a 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg.
This past Saturday, Stevens ran for two more touchdowns as Saskatchewan defeated his former team, the Calgary Stampeders, 40-37 in overtime at McMahon Stadium.
“That was a good night, for sure,” Stevens said. “You don’t ever want to get too up or too down for an opponent. You always want to treat everything as close to the same as possible. I thought we did a really good job of that. It was one that we wanted to get because it was the next one.
“Anytime I can have an impact on the game, I obviously want to try to do so in a positive way. I was ultimately happy with getting the two plays that I was in there for.”
Stevens scored the Roughriders’ first and last touchdowns on Saturday. He started off with a two-yard run and finished with a one-yarder that ended double overtime and gave Saskatchewan a 2-0 record.
On the final series of overtime, Trevor Harris moved the Roughriders 34 yards in four plays — three of which were completions for first-down yardage — before Stevens entered the game on first-and-goal from the one.
Mr. Automatic took it from there. Game over.
“When I came off the field, I took my helmet off and handed it to Gordie (Gilroy, Equipment Manager),” Harris said. “Then I thought, ‘Whoa! I shouldn’t do that,’ because anything can happen — a false start or whatever. You just don’t know.
“But Mariano Rivera closed it out for us.”
Stevens also made an integral contribution to the Roughriders’ first victory of the 2026 regular season.
On June 13, he converted a third-and-one situation during an 11-play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a game-winning, six-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Samuel Emilus with 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter against the B.C. Lions. Alex Hale’s convert completed the scoring in a 31-27 Roughriders win.
OUELLETTE UPDATE
Running back A.J. Ouellette is listed as doubtful for Friday’s game. He suffered an ankle injury late in the third quarter against Calgary.
]If Ouellette does not, in fact, get the call on Friday, Quali Conley could be in line for his first CFL start. He signed with the Roughriders just before the pre-season.
The Roughriders added to their running backs room on Wednesday by announcing the signing of Star Thomas, who rushed for 593 yards and seven touchdowns with the University of Tennessee last season and earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
