In this great league they surely will always remember November. When it comes to mid-July, however, it would be hard to pinpoint as matchup with much higher stakes than this as the 4-1 BC Lions entertain the 4-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday at Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place.
This one most certainly could involve the winner being in control of top spot in the West for a long time, especially seeing as they will only meet once more way down the road in October at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium.
All of this being said, Ciante Evans and company just want to make sure they continue to get better after their most dominant performance of the young season when they prevailed 44-28 in Hamilton on Sunday.
“I think the guys understand the message, they understand what this game is about and I think we’re going to come ready and prepared,” said the veteran defensive back.
Like the Lions, Saskatchewan’s hot start can be traced to the fact they are making crucial plays at the most crucial times. Outside of a 36-20 win over Hamilton in week three, their remaining wins were decided by a combined total of 18 points. Championship worthy squads shut the door when games are on the line.
“They’re a sound team. They play hard on all sides of the ball,” added Evans.
“They want to run the ball; they don’t take too many penalties and they’re just a very disciplined team. I can tell that comes from the top to the bottom. They’re a good bunch.”
Given the stakes are what they are at this early stage of the campaign, Rick Campbell is not surprisingly urging his troops to not get too caught up in the long game at this early juncture.
“Do we want to win this game in the worst way? Absolutely, we want to win. That goes for any game. Is this game going to make or break our season? No. If we win, they’re not going to give us any award and if we lose it doesn’t mean we’re a bad team,” said the head coach.
“We’re running a marathon, not a sprint. We need to show up every week in this league or you’re not going to win.”
The Riders will give Shea Patterson his second career start at quarterback with Trevor Harris on the shelf after sustaining a knee injury. Evans and the Lions defence know they can’t take their foot off the gas.
“Even though me might be inexperienced, he’s been up here in the league for awhile. He’s been in systems, he’s seen games. He might not have played as much but he understands what’s going on. So, we have to treat him just like anybody else.”
The Quarterbacks
# 3 Vernon Adams Jr.– His career-best start to the campaign has been nothing short of spectacular. The All-Honour Roll top player for each of the last two weeks continues to rely on all of his key targets while making plays with his legs when the time calls for it. The test this week should be big with the likes of Micah Johnson and Jameer Thurmon always capable of causing havoc. Former Lion Marcus Sayles has made his mark in the secondary with a game-changing defensive score to help tame Toronto last week.
# 5 Shea Patterson- Credit shall be given to the former Michigan star who had a cup of coffee at 2021 Lions training camp and then on the practice squad for a few weeks before getting his first game action with Montreal later that same year. Patterson is holding the fort down in place of injured Trevor Harris and helped will the Riders to that gritty win while rushing for a touchdown and throwing for one more against the Boatmen.
3 Lions To Watch
DL #40 Pete Robertson- it’s always intriguing to track those playing against their former team for the first time. Robertson has come as advertised on this new look defensive front. They will want to make Patterson uncomfortable early and often.
RB # 31 William Stanback– with 156 yards from scrimmage last week, the bruising back has demonstrated the versatility required at his position. A balanced attack will be crucial against the undefeated Roughriders.
LB # 32 Maxime Rouyer- the special teams demon has lived up to that moniker with a team-leading six tackles on teams. Covering kicks and causing havoc on opposing returns is an underrated yet crucial element for all championship squads.
Extra Yards
Saturday’s game can be seen on TSN while American viewers can watch on CBS Sports Network. Moj and Giulio have the radio call on 980 CKNW and the Lions Audio Network with the pre-game show underway at 3:00 pm. Punjabi listeners can tune in on Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 with Harp Pandher and Taqdeer Thindal. Pre-game coverage there begins at 3:30 pm.
Defensive lineman Jonah Tavai makes his CFL debut in place of Josh Banks (hamstring) who is headed to the 1-Game injured list. The younger brother of former Lion J.R. Tavai, Jonah turned enough heads in training camp to earn a spot on the practice roster. Tavai was a standout at San Diego State from 2019-22, earning First-Team All Mountain West honours in his senior season. Tibo Debaillie (chest) has been placed on the 6-Game injured list which makes way for 2024 first-round draft pick Anu Una to dress as a spare offensive lineman.
After not participating in any full practices this week, Jevon Cottoy has not been ruled out after leaving the Hamilton win early with a rib injury. Good news for this already stacked Lions receiving corps.
Offensive supremacy: the Lions have averaged 463 yards of net offence over the last three games while producing 19 scoring drives in the process. A big key for this efficiency has been the second down conversion rate of 67 percent over those three games (46 of 69).
Adams Jr.’s current pace of 6,307 passing yards would make it the second all-time for a single season behind Doug Flutie’s CFL and Lions record of 6,619 set in 1991. He is now 19-8 all-time in starts with the Lions and overall has 21 games of 300 or more passing yards.
Since an eight-game losing streak to the Riders that lasted from 2017 to the end of 2021, the Lions have taken four of six regular season meetings dating back to the beginning of 2022.