RIDERS A CALM BUNCH
REGINA – Mental preparation will be a big part of the game plan for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as they get ready for the CFL West Division final.
The Roughriders will head west to face the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday (3:30 pm, TSN, CKRM Rider Network), and quarterback Darian Durant says they’ll have to keep their heads in the game.
“You can’t let the emotions get the best of you,” Durant said Friday after practice in Regina.
“You have to realize that it’s going to take a full 60 minutes of fundamental football to get the job done, especially on the road in hostile territory against a damn good team. You have to realize what’s at stake and make sure that you have the right state of mind.”
What’s at stake for the Riders is a chance to play in the Grey Cup on Nov. 24. at Mosaic Stadium, their home turf.
But first they have to get past Calgary, who won the West with the CFL’s best record of 14-4. The Stampeders also won the season series with Saskatchewan 2-1, with both victories coming at McMahon Stadium.
The rivalry between the two teams was heated this season, but Durant was looking forward.
“It doesn’t even matter what happened during the regular season. It’s all about now,” he said. “They know they’ll face a different team. We know we’ll face a different team.
“I don’t think what happened this year has anything to do with what you’ll see on Sunday.”
Slotback Geroy Simon, who spent 12 seasons with the B.C. Lions before joining the Riders in January, is drawing on experience to get through the West final this weekend.
“You have to treat it like another game, but you know that it’s either win or go home and it can be a huge game for all of us,” said Simon.
“I know for me it’s all about, I want to leave a lasting legacy in a positive way, so this just kind of adds to that. I consider myself a winner and no matter where I go, I want to win and win championships.”
But for Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin, Sunday’s matchup will be his first West final as a head coach.
Chamblin says he thought it would feel different.
“It feels like it’s the next game and it’s a game that we’ve prepared and prepared to win,” Chamblin told reporters Friday.
“I thought it would be all the, you know, ‘Wow, this is it. It’s the Western final or Eastern final,’ or wherever I thought I’d be. But it’s the Western final and as a head coach, I think that’s just a maturity in my mindset and a maturity in the team’s mindset is, it’s the next game and we have to be able to win.”
The Riders got to this point with a 29-25 win over the B.C. Lions in the West semifinal last weekend.
Durant completed 19 of 23 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns in the semifinal win. He also picked up 97 rushing yards on six carries.
Durant says running is important in every game.
“Every game dictates a different guy stepping up, a different situation, so we’ll see what the game holds. If it’s up to me and if a lane’s open for me to run, then so be it. If we win by throwing the ball, then so be it. If (Kory) Sheets does it, then we’ll take that too,” said Durant.
The Riders will also have slotback Chris Getzlaf back in the game.
Getzlaf was the Riders’ receiving leader this year with 63 catches for 1,047 yards, but suffered a knee injury in the team’s 29-25 loss to Calgary on Oct. 26 and hasn’t played since.
“He got through practice today,” said Chamblin.
“There was better progression. He ran his routes faster and he made more moves and things like that to finish the whole game plan.”
© Canadian Press
Riders 25 Stamps 17 in this one. It should be one hell of a battle and if we can contain Corny Cornish it will be "Grey Cup Here We Come" !
Word on the street is the sneaking suspicion referees will determine this west division final play-off game as instructed by league managment higher up's to help the lowly Roughriders so they can play for the Grey Cup championship in front of their fanbase at Taylor Field . Roughriders sruggles to win in their 100 + year history abysmal, pathetic and sad, so a little help to the cause duly noted and entertained for the sake of appeasement.
Word on the street is you are an idiot.
Word on the street is that Sunday night I and other Rider fans will be celebrating that we are in the Grey Cup. If you want to celebrate also, meet at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Albert Street where the impromptu party will spring out.
now time to WALK the WALK…n forget all talk…BIGGEST game in team history….until the NEXT one!!!! DDs time!!! in no way,shape, or form can this team let it come down to the end….I expect total DOMINATION in all three phases and a blowout win by the riders….in DD I trust!!!
Word on the street is Calgarian comments have infiltrated Rod's site. Seems they have nothing in Cow town to keep them busy except what the cow leaves behind.
They have been playing in cow pies for so long that BS has become part of the Stampeder fans life style.
Isn't Regina in the midst of playing in cow dung, cow pies knee high right now at their Agribition. That smell like the rest of that hamlet stink, and to think the Grey Cup will be held next door this very week coming up. Visitors to the championship game subjected to put up with that and its it' suroundings.
Regina a good place for what the cows will leave behind, for that it has become a part of the Roughriders fans life style, BS and stink.
Go Stampeders !!!!
I can't wait to see Tate and Cornhole bitch slapping each other when they realize there season is over at the half.
Epic collapse coming up for Calgary. BOOK IT DANNO
It's like the lyrics in the song American Pie. "Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above. Do you believe in rock and roll, can music save your mortal soul and can you teach me how to dance, real slow?" Those lyrics are actually exactly what will happen in this game. The book of love in this case is the team with the best playbook. The part about dancing real slow is about the field being icy. Who can control their offence from slipping, while going 'real slow." The next part is about… Read more »