Riders looking for redemption in Calgary against the Stamps

The Saskatchewan Roughriders know they didn’t put their best foot forward in the first meeting between them and the Calgary Stampeders.

Calgary came into Mosaic Stadium and beat the Riders 24-10 back in July — the only blemish on the Riders’ record so far.

“We let the fans down at our home stadium,” said wide receiver Dohnte Meyers. “So we’re looking to go out there and redeem ourselves.”

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson said the Riders took that first loss personally against the Stamps.

“We take losses hard around here, let alone to lose at home. We take that super personal,” Johnson said. “For us, this is the next game up, but it just happens to be the guys who came here and kicked our butts last time out.

“Guys are definitely excited to be going up against Calgary this week and hopefully get one back.”

The Riders will get a chance to do just that on Saturday when Saskatchewan takes on the Stamps at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m. The Green Zone pregame show begins at 3 p.m.

One of the biggest takeaways from the first meeting was that the Riders felt they were “outphysicaled” in the game.

Since then, the Riders have gotten back to their strengths, which have become the offensive and defensive line play. Saskatchewan has only surrendered 11 sacks so far — the second fewest in the CFL. The defence has become the CFL’s best at getting to opposing quarterbacks with 28 sacks.

“The bully game is back. Everybody loses. I remember in Calgary, we beat Toronto last year and they won the Grey Cup,” said defensive tackle Mike Rose. “We need to get back to who we are and I think the past few weeks we have shown that.”

Rose believes the team took responsibility for how they were playing and have been pushing each other to be better at their jobs.

“I think people are putting pressure on each other to make more plays,” Rose said.

The Riders’ defence has recorded 16 sacks over the past three outings. In the past two games, the Riders’ defence hasn’t surrendered a touchdown — the first time the team has done that since 1970.

Rose spent seven seasons with the Stamps and has seen how well Rider fans travel to Calgary.

“I expect (Rider fans) to be rowdy. Calgary doesn’t ever have any fans anyway,” Rose said. “They know that. I was there. They are fair-weather fans. It is what it is. I hope to see a lot of green.”