So far this year the Roughriders are winning the battle in the trenches.

Both the offensive and defensive lines appear to be much improved from last season. Something that should lead to success for the Riders, as everything a team does offensively and defensively starts along that line of scrimmage.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive line is loaded with home grown talent. Ben Heenan, Patrick Neufeld and Brendon LaBatte all hail from the southern half of the province, with Heenan and Neufeld both coming from the Regina area.

However, the connection doesn't end there for Heenan and Neufeld, they actually played three years together at the University of Saskatchewan.

"We talked about it, we were always wishing that we would be able to one day play together on the same team," said Neufeld. "Now that it's actually happening, it's pretty awesome."

There's good and bad news when it comes to the Roughriders injury situation.

The good news is for the first time since training camp, offensive lineman Chris Best was back on the field Tuesday. He was missing from action since about the middle of camp because of a foot injury. It's not all perfect for Best however, as he still won't be playing this Saturday against the Lions.

"He's coming along," said head coach Corey Chamblin. ''He was able to work out with us today, that was a positive."

Special teams might be one of the most important parts of football, and the Roughriders proved that on Sunday.

Field position can be just as important as points in a game that is as tight defensively as the 17-1 win over Edmonton was. Leading the way in making sure the Eskimos didn't get good field position was kicker Chris Milo.

"Milo did a good job," said head coach Corey Chamblin. "He hit the ball pretty good, I'm really proud of Chris, I think he's growing into an ultimate pro."

The Saskatchewan Roughriders defense shut down the Edmonton Eskimos in a 17-1 win for the Riders.

Both offenses couldn't move the football as it was a day for the defenses until late in the game when the Riders ran away with it.

"We knew it was going to be a dog fight," said quarterback Darian Durant. "Hats off to our defense, they kept us in it."

With the game 7-1, Kory Sheets took off for a 34-yard touchdown with 2:22 left in the fourth quarter and solidify the Riders win.

The Roughriders are hoping to build off their success last week against Hamilton.

Sunday afternoon they will take to the field at Mosaic Stadium for the first time in the regular season as they host the Edmonton Eskimos.

Since that win over the Tiger-Cats the Riders have remained level headed, saying that it's just one week, and there's a lot of work left to be done.

It will be the debut for a number of players at home, but it's also head coach Corey Chamblin's first home game.

The Roughriders are making some changes at defensive back for the home opener on Sunday.

One move is being forced because of an injury to defensive back Tristan Jackson. Head Coach Corey Chamblin said Friday that Jackson has injured his knee, and will be replaced in the line up by Terrell Maze. The good news is Jackson's injury isn't serious, they just want to be cautious with it.

Sales of Roughrider gear are picking up heading into the weekend of the first official home opener against Edmonton.

Dan Reiss with Jersey City in Regina says there was a lot of uncertainity from fans on what to buy after last year's disappointing season.

"Seeing them win by such a large margin last week I think kind of renewed a lot of optimism," he said.

So what's popular for the green and white right now?

Reiss says he's selling a lot of women's Rider gear.

There could be a change on defense for the Roughriders defence on Sunday.

The team announced the signing of defensive back Woodny Turenne.

Turenne joins the Riders after spending last season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He also previously spent time with the NFL's New York Giants, and Chicago Bears after playing college in Louisville.

We were originally told that Turenne would start the season on the practice roster, but that plan appears to have changed pretty quickly.

Mosaic Stadium is ready to go....for real this time.

The stadium under went a number of repairs and changes after some complaints of broken seats, and poor sight lines after the pre-season game on June 22nd.

"We're happy, we'd like to be done, but we're not," said team president and CEO Jim Hopson. "After the last game, we went through that whole north end zone, they removed every seat, re-installed, and tested every one."

What's not done yet is of course the new luxury suites, but they aren't supposed to be ready until sometime in August.