Grey hairs are a small price to pay for a Grey Cup.
“I get a lot of people who stop me in town and say, ‘Can you stop giving us so many grey hairs? Could we just win a couple of two-possession games?’ ”
Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris said leading up to Sunday’s CFL clash with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
“It would be great, so we’ll try and do that, but it’s going to be a tough one (against Hamilton).”
Hamilton was the visitor when the Roughriders last won by 10 or more points. That was on Aug. 16, when Saskatchewan prevailed 29-9.
The Roughriders’ previous game — a 34-6 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 2 at Mosaic Stadium — was also lopsided.
Since the Tiger-Cats last visited Regina, the Roughriders have won by point differentials of four, eight, seven, eight, three, eight, four, three and five.
Included is a 25-17 Grey Cup victory over Montreal on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg.
Although the Corey Mace-coached Roughriders consistently play in close games, there is an accompanying tendency to win them.
“This team never flinches,” Harris said. “In the time Corey Mace has been here, we don’t bat an eye.
“I feel like our collective heart rate as an offensive group when we’re on a game-winning drive is probably under 60 beats a minute. We’re very calm when we’re out there and we know what we’re going to do. It’s just about us executing.
“I’ve never seen a player on this team bat an eye in any situation. I think that’s who we are and that’s how we’ll continue to be.”
A GAME TO CATCH
Any connoisseur of aerial football should treat themselves to Roughriders versus Tiger-Cats.
Sunday’s game will be a showcase of elite receivers. Hamilton, for example, has an arsenal that includes game-breakers Kenny Lawler and Kiondré Smith.
“I think you’re aware of certain people every week,” Mace said on Saturday. “If you go into any game, there’s going to be two, three sometimes even more players on the opposing team that you’ve got to know where they are or you’ve got to find a way to stop them and make somebody else beat you.
“When you face the really good teams that have multiple weapons, sometimes you overemphasize stopping one guy and it opens it up for a bunch of others. Then you’re sitting there thinking, ‘Now what?’
“You’ve got to be calculated in your plan of attack.”
That applies both ways. The Tiger-Cats must contend with the Roughriders’ Big 3 — KeeSean Johnson, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus.
“Their defence has to be worried about a few guys on our offence,” Mace said, “but then if you worry about those guys, it’s somebody new or somebody else has 100 yards.”
Consider that the Roughriders’ first touchdown reception in their most-recent game was by Dhel Duncan-Busby, who helped Saskatchewan defeat the host Ottawa REDBLACKS 27-22 on July 3.
Further to Mace’s point, Johnny Johnson III’s first CFL reception — a 23-yarder — set up a touchdown pass from Harris to KeeSean Johnson in the nation’s capital.
Lawler and Smith aside, Hamilton’s starting receiving corps includes Kurleigh Gittens Jr. (who has 1,000-yard credentials) and Keric Wheatfall (who caught 42 passes for 655 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last season).
“On the flip side, they’ve got people on defence as well who you’ve got to be aware of and who you’ve got to game-plan against, too,” Mace noted.
“It’s a game of chess sometimes. Ultimately, the players and what they understand and how they execute will always win the games.”
TIGER-CATS’ TOUGH D
Saskatchewan (3-1) is poised to face a Hamilton team that has allowed 24.5 points per game — fewest in the CFL — during this young season.
The 2-2 Tiger-Cats have also allowed the fewest offensive TDs (eight) and average yards of net offence (376.0).
“They’re good at what they do,” Harris said. “They do a lot, but not a lot. They mix it up. They bring different flavours of the week.
“We know they’re going to have different looks for us, which every team has done this year. They’ve all given us different looks from what they’ve shown on film, so we’re prepared for those things. We’ve dug into the archives and done our due diligence and homework.
“They have an active defensive line and their linebackers run really well. They’re very disciplined in what they do and they have good defensive backs.
“They’ve built a roster and a team that does a great job. It’s on us to go out there and execute.”
