Riders look to bounce back with showdown against Argos

The Saskatchewan Roughriders hope their recent success against the Toronto Argonauts can continue as the Green and White tries to get back into the win column.

The Riders (3-2) dropped back-to-back games to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and now sit in second place in the CFL’s West Division.

Meanwhile, the Argos are coming into Mosaic Stadium trying to continue to build off a 17-16 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and are in first place in the East Division. Kickoff for the game is set for 7:45 p.m.

“It’s nice to face someone else because you get tired of looking at the same film all the time. It’s been a fun week studying a different team and seeing a different opponent on film but this is a good team we’re facing,” Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said. “Every week is different in a lot of ways and it bring new challenges and this is one of those weeks we are going to have to play well.

“I challenged the guys to start fast, I think that’s going to be important, and just stay the course.”

While the Roughriders and Argos don’t meet up a lot during the season – this is the only meeting between the two in the 2021 campaign – the Riders have come out the victor in the past seven regular-season meetings. The last time the Argos won against Saskatchewan in the regular season was a 30-17 win on June 30, 2016.

The Riders got some good news during the week with starting quarterback Cody Fajardo getting the green light to play in the game after suffering a concussion on Sept. 11 against the Bombers.

“I feel good. I thought during the week, I progressed nicely and didn’t have any major setbacks. I had no problems sleeping or remembering plays,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo and the offence will try to find the end zone once again – something that has been increasingly difficult for the Riders over the past few weeks.

The Riders scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the season. Since then, they have only found the end zone four times in 65 drives – with zero touchdowns scored in the past two games.

Part of that drought has been the lack of the big play but Fajardo thinks the team is set to start hitting more of those.

“We’re very inexperienced in terms of offence. Seven of our 12 starters are in their first-time starting role. A lot of people might compare us to our 2019 numbers but we’ve been hurt with injuries and we’ve had a lot of guys playing in positions that weren’t starters for us in 2019,” Fajardo said. “We played an incredibly good defence in Winnipeg and we knew it was going to be tough.”

With injuries to veterans Shaq Evans and Jordan Williams-Lambert, wide receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker and slotback Ricardo Louis will once again find themselves in the starting lineup.

But the Argos’ defence will pose a good test for the Riders and it includes a couple players who called Saskatchewan home in 2019.

Defensive end Charleston Hughes and linebacker Cam Judge both signed with the Argos for 2021. Fajardo, who was an Argo in 2016-17, knows that facing one’s former team can offer some extra motivation. Fajardo is 2-0 against the Argos with his career high in passing yards (430) and touchdown passes (three) coming against Toronto.

“You want to play a lot better against a team you were formerly on. There’s a little more to it because you want to show the front office what you missed on so there’s going to be some of that and a chip on their shoulders. It’s not like we didn’t offer them contracts, they just decided to choose to go to a different team,” Fajardo said. “I think the atmosphere is going to be incredible. I think Charleston is going to feel like he’s at home. He’s played a lot of football in Rider green and same with Cam Judge as well.”

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson is excited to connect with former teammates, and not just in a football sense. Johnson played with both Judge and Hughes in Saskatchewan in 2019 and was also with the latter with the Calgary Stampeders from 2013 to 2017.

“You go to war with those guys and talk to those guys in the off-season. We know each other’s kids and families and it goes deeper than football,” Johnson said. “Once the game comes, you get to chattering out there and it’s fun to compete against guys.

“It’s always fun to compete against guys you used to play with.”

The Riders’ defence continues to deal with injuries. Defensive back Ed Gainey (toe) will miss the game while defensive lineman Garrett Marino (knee) and safety Mike Edem (wrist) find themselves on the six-game injured list. Christian Campbell will start at cornerback, Anthony Lanier at defensive tackle and Elie Bouka at safety. Defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy is back after missing the Banjo Bowl.

Riders defensive co-ordinator Jason Shivers says it’s like training camp again having so many people being called upon to step up on the defence.

“I look at it as a challenge to try and get these guys ready to play and ready to roll and be the best they can be,” Shivers said. “They kept fighting (against Winnipeg). Some of them being rookies, a lot of times plays may happen in the game with the ebbs and flows of the game and sometimes you can see rookies panic but I felt like our guys kept fighting.”

The Argos also have former Riders offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo on their staff as the offensive line coach. Dariusz Bladek, another former Rider, is starting at right guard while Philip Blake and will try to keep Toronto quarterback Nick Arbuckle upright. Guard Philip Blake is also with the Argos but is on the six-game injured list.

Arbuckle has played the Riders before as a member of the Stampeders. In Calgary’s 37-10 win at Mosaic Stadium on July 6, 2019, Arbuckle threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns against the Riders.

This year, Arbuckle has completed 74 of 120 attempts for 849 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions.

“It’s going to come down to us and our discipline. Nick does a good job of taking what the defence gives – he will take underneath throws, he will take shorter throws and he will do what he needs to do to keep the chains moving,” Johnson said.

The Green Zone pregame show gets underway at 5:30 p.m.