THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. DICKENSON REWARDED FOR PENALTY PATIENCE: Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson has been reluctant to cave into public pressure to be more of a tough guy with his players and institute a no tolerance crackdown for his guys constantly taking penalties that cost his team. In Saturday’s Week 4 win over Montreal, that patience was rewarded. Anthony Lanier, one of the more common offenders, rebounded from an early roughing-the-passer call to post arguably his best night in a Rider uniform with 3 sacks of his own. Derrick Moncrief, another multiple offender early this season, rewarded the coach with a sack and another interception. It’s a fine line between being a player’s coach to being not a player’s coach. Dickenson clearly chooses the former over the latter. And Saturday, his guys came through for him even after a shaky first half. Will that be the case in November? Too early to tell. But despite the fact the Riders posted the only western team loss to an eastern team in 12 matches just a week earlier, the prospects of this team rallying together for a fight with the rest of the wild, wild west suddenly look a whole lot better.     

2. COMMITMENT TO RUN GAME MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE: The Riders handed off to their running backs 24 times in the win, much of it in the 2^nd half, compared with just 10 in a loss to the same team just one week earlier. Point being: The Riders abandoned the run much too early in Montreal and it cost them. Then at home they were rewarded for committing to the run and sticking to it. The run game is not an idea you throw around. It’s a commitment. This will be key going forward as Cody Fajardo seems to be getting pounded around worse every week and isn’t one to take a week off. 

3. LIFE AFTER DAN CLARK: They opened up lanes you could drive a Nissan through—and Jamal Morrow practically did— in Saturday’s big win. Even on plays the Montreal defence knew they’d be running, the hogs up front looked like giant bowling balls knocking the Alouette linebackers down like pins. Not bad for a crew that everyone was crying Henny Penny about only nine days earlier. Dan Clark is one of the best and his injury will make the Riders worse for as long as he is away, no doubt. But Logan Bandy is proving that he too can play.   

4. MARIO ALFORD TRADE: It’s not getting much attention but will be interesting to see how he changes the return game. Maybe this move gives Jamal Morrow more time to focus on being a running back or maybe even an insurance weapon to throw into the passing game while Shaq Evans is on the shelf. It tells me something else, too. Maybe, just maybe, Craig Dickenson and Jeremy O’Day aren’t as excited about their Canadian receivers as we thought they were. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. 

5. WEST IS BEST AGAIN: So long as the wind blows, the grass grows and the water flows, the CFL west will always be better than the CFL east. Or so it would seem. It’s incredible how the classic 1981 Grey Cup between 14-1-1 powerhouse Edmonton and 5-11 weakling Ottawa is still remembered as the ultimate David vs Goliath matchup but some 40 years later, nothing has really changed. The teams out west are far better than the teams out east. Not sure that it really matters but it’s more proof that fans out here care a lot more than they do out there because that’s what ultimately puts pressure on these teams to perform. Could also be a big reason why the league struggles down east to draw interest. I’m just saying. 

6. CANADIAN QB’S EMERGING: When the league finally came to its senses and began allowing Canadian quarterbacks to start counting as Canadian starters—duh, why wouldn’t they?—many know-it-alls including me didn’t think it went nearly far enough. But with two Canadian starting quarterbacks going a combined 4-0 so far this season, I’m starting to think the measures they took, modest as they might be, are finally working. This is big news. A real game-changer.

7. REGINA RED SOX PITCHING: 1992 Saskatchewan Roughrider defensive lineman Lance Cook was in town for the first time in 30 years over the long weekend to watch his son pitch for the Regina Red Sox. Fresh off his flight from Hickory, North Carolina, Lance joined me in the booth for a half inning of Thursday night’s Access Now broadcast of the Sox and first-place Moose Jaw Miller Express. I reminisced about the Riders from yesteryear while Lance wanted to talk about the Sox. I asked him what he thought of Andy’s role and he asked me the exact same question. I told him Andy is probably good enough to be an ace on most teams in the WCBL and would be on most Sox teams too. But this year’s starting rotation might be the deepest I’ve ever seen and Andy is in the mix as probably their number 3. This hasn’t been Regina’s best summer by a longshot but if their batts ever wake up, look out! 

8. USFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Great to see former Argo head coach Bart Andrus make it all the way to the championship game with his Philadelphia Stars. I was rooting for Carm Carteri’s old University of Montana teammate not just because he seems like a decent guy but also to show that you can succeed in NFL Europe and the USFL but still get your rear-end whipped by the CFL like Bart did when he went 3-15 with the 2009 Toronto Argonauts. This is a good league in Canada and Bart knows it. 

9. MATT HAMEL LEAVES CTV MORNING LIVE: It’s a great show. Kind of too bad it has such a revolving door. At least we can count on Darrell Romuld to give our morning lives some stability.   

10. IN THE HUDDLE THIS WEEK: Rider radio broadcaster Michael Ball drops by the studio to give us his take on the first four games of the season and Marshall Hamilton breaks down Nick Marshall’s big play. Watch us Tuesday nights at 7 on Access Now TV or the Access Now App.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)