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It took some extra football, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders won another Labour Day Classic on Saturday.
Saskatchewan emerged from a sold-out Mosaic Stadium with a 32-26 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
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“That was the best atmosphere I’ve been a part of in my 20 years of playing football,” defensive back Jonathan Edouard said.
Short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens had another hat trick of touchdowns this season, his third coming in the overtime mini-games. The Riders’ two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but the Bombers were unable to take advantage.
Winnipeg took a time-count penalty with a majority of the 34,352 in attendance making noise.
“Let’s give a shout-out to our crowd. Quite a few times, they were second-and-five and all of a sudden, it became second-and-10 because our crowd was absolutely rambunctious,” quarterback Trevor Harris said.
The next two plays, linebacker Jameer Thurman came up with the tackles that clinched the game for the Riders.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight the entire game. When the plays come your way, you have to make them. We ended up making the play at the end of the game and sealed it for the win,” Thurman said.
Harris, who threw for 361 yards and a touchdown, admitted it was a big win for them.
“It’s important for us to get these wins at this point in the year. We are down some prominent guys so the fact we are able to kind of grind through it and get these wins is huge for us,” Harris said.
Wide receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby had the biggest game of his career as he hauled in 10 passes for 148 yards.
“Just have to be patient. We have a great receiving corps. We have a lot of different guys and, unfortunately, with all the injuries, people have had to step up and I’m just glad that today was my time,” Duncan-Busby said.
His big game wasn’t a surprise for Harris.
“I told you so,” Harris said. “This off-season I talked about Dhel and I just think it’s a matter of opportunity for him. He has kept his head down and continued to work and sometimes it has been hard for him to have opportunities pass him by due to injuries and whatnot. I just told him his quarterback believes in him and just keep putting in the work.”
Harris also connected with Daniel Wiebe for a 72-yard pass. That play was a special one for Harris as it gave him enough yards to pass CFL legend Doug Flutie for 10th all-time in league passing.
His other receiver, KeeSean Johnson, had 32 yards in the game as he has now surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for a second straight season.
Tommy Stevens rushes as the quarterback helps the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 6, 2026. (Saskatchewan Roughriders/Submitted)
This was the third game this season Stevens has recorded three touchdown runs in a game.
“You don’t get many of these opportunities and for me with as many quarterback starts I’ve had — I’ve probably started less than 10 games at quarterback since high school — so for me to be able to still have a role and be playing football … I’m just so thankful to be in a spot that appreciates me and be around a bunch of great guys who are super supportive of me and having a guy like Trevor to learn from, too, is quite the experience,” Stevens said.
“It feels like everything has put me here. I’m just thankful.”
Running back Quali Conley had another productive game for the team as he had 59 yards on 14 carries as well as two catches for 42 yards, with one of those going for 35 yards.
On defence, the Riders were able to hold the Bombers in check for the most part, forcing them to settle for four Sergio Castillo field goals.
Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros finished with 279 yards and two touchdowns while Brady Oliveira, who came into the game as the CFL’s leading rusher, only had 28 yards on the ground.
Linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr., who was in for the injured Josh Woods, started his first CFL game in this contest. He had three tackles, a quarterback sack and a pass knockdown.
“When you wait so long and you beg for this opportunity, when you get it, you have to be ready. You can’t blow the opportunity. Can I be better? Yeah. Are there plays I left out there I wish I could get back? Yeah, but the opportunity I had, I’m grateful I got it,” Miller said.
“Whenever they need me, I’ll be ready.”
Defensive end Derick Roberson had a big game as he had a sack for a safety of Collaros as well as six tackles and two tackles for loss.
Riders kicker Alex Hale missed two of three field goal attempts. He made both convert kick attempts he had.
The win improves the Riders’ record to 8-4 while dropping the Bombers to 6-6. The two will meet in a rematch on Saturday.
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