Roughriders at Elks: A celebration of football in the fall

Today at 09:20 PM

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are resolutely green and the leaves are changing colour.

Trevor Harris wouldn't have it any other way.

"It’s the best," the Roughriders' starting quarterback said when asked about football in the autumn.

"I just always love it when the weather changes a little bit. When it's sunny and 70 (Fahrenheit), it's all perfect and feels nice, but when you've got a little wind, a little rain and it's a little cold, it feels a little bit different waking up. It's darker in the morning and those sorts of things.

"That's my favourite. That's the best part of football for me. I grew up in Ohio and played in Pennsylvania in college. It was chilly and cold and that's what football is to me. It's not the '75, 80 and sunny' sort of stuff."

The atmosphere has been sunnier in Rider Nation of late, thanks to back-to-back victories that have followed a seven-game winless streak.

The Green and White carries a 7-7-1 record, good for second place in the West Division, into Saturday's game against the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium (5 p.m., TSN, CKRM).

Edmonton (5-10-0) is fourth in the West and trying to claw its way into the playoff picture.

"I understand what the record says, but they're a dangerous team," Head Coach Corey Mace said. "We found that out first-hand."

When the teams last collided, Edmonton won 42-31 at Mosaic Stadium on Aug. 3.

The Elks registered 528 yards of total offence, including 276 on the ground against a Saskatchewan side that has otherwise been stubborn against the run.

"They've got a big offensive line," Mace said. "They've got three backs who are more than capable and they're all explosive. The receiving corps is really good as well.

"They've got two guys back there at quarterback who have had success in this league."

McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who is to start for Edmonton on Saturday, was the Elks' quarterback of record when Saskatchewan won 29-21 at Commonwealth Stadium on June 8.

The Roughriders trailed 21-8 early in the fourth quarter before scoring 21 unanswered points.

Saskatchewan's offence was led by Harris and Shawn Bane Jr., who collaborated for TD passes of 40, 27 and 33 yards. Bane Jr. is to miss Saturday's game with a knee injury he suffered in a 29-16 victory over the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS on Sept. 28.

Although Bethel-Thompson was on the losing side in the season opener, he posted impressive numbers (33-for-42 for 336 yards, with two TDs and one interception).

Harris was 22-for-31 for 305 yards, with three TDs and two picks.

Both starting quarterbacks were different for the Aug. 4 rematch.

Shea Patterson was behind centre for Saskatchewan while Harris was recovering from a knee injury.

Tre Ford, who had supplanted Bethel-Thompson, was 18-for-22 for 252 yards and two scores. Ford also ran five times for 42 yards.

Now the pendulum has swung back to Bethel-Thompson. Harris, meanwhile, is poised to suit up for his seventh straight game.

His quarterback efficiency rating (105.6) is the best in the CFL entering this weekend's action.

A NEW GREEN TEAM

After finishing each of the previous two seasons with seven losses in a row, they have rebounded from an 0-6-1 stretch this year by winning two in a row and ascending to second spot in the West.

"A lot of people were talking about last year, but that's not us," Harris told reporters. "That's not on our minds. That's for you all to talk about.

"This is this year's team. It's a new version of us and we've got our sights set on big things. It starts with this week.

"We're going to go no further than this week against Edmonton — a big, athletic, strong, tall football team. They're going to pose a lot of challenges for us."

STERNS RETURNS

With Bane Jr. sidelined, Jerreth Sterns returns to the Roughriders' starting receiving corps.

He had 25 catches for 324 yards over the first nine games of the 2024 season.

"He's a really good football player," Harris said of the second-year CFLer.

"We'll miss Shawn Bane, as you guys (in the media) know, and you know how much I love Shawn Bane as a receiver, a person and everything, but we know Jerreth provides a different skill set, a different type of receiver at that position. We'll utilize his strengths as best we can.

"Nobody's flinching over Jerreth Sterns playing."

It was reasonable for a viewer to flinch due to a crunching hit Sterns absorbed, and quickly shook off, during the final two minutes of a June 16 game between the Roughriders and the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

With the Roughriders in a second-and-17 predicament, Harris found Sterns for an 18-yard completion that moved the chains.

Crucially, Sterns held on to the football while being flattened by safety Stavros Katsantonis.

Sterns' catch was the catalyst for an eight-play, 88-yard drive that was punctuated by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Kian Schaffer-Baker.

Brett Lauther added the game-tying convert with 43 seconds left. The Roughriders' placekicker added a 43-yard field goal on the final play to give the visitors a 33-30 victory at Tim Hortons Field.

Afterwards, Harris used the term "gigantic" to describe Sterns' clutch catch.

Now, after sitting out the past six games, the 5-foot-9, 172-pounder is back in the lineup.

"In Sterns' situation, I've been very vocal with the team about him being my favourite player on the team," Mace said.

"He doesn't say much. He just comes to work, he takes notes, he does everything right. Even in his situation, he's been handling it nothing but professionally."

Sterns had a team-high seven catches (for 81 yards) during the Roughriders' season-opening victory in Edmonton.

EXTRA POINTS

• Harris and Bethel-Thompson were teammates with the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lions in 2011. The Mountain Lions' roster also included running back John David Washington — son of screen legend Denzel Washington.
• Harris needs seven completions to reach a career total of 2,709 and tie Kent Austin for 13^th in CFL history.
• Saskatchewan defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. has a league-leading seven interceptions with three regular-season games remaining. That is the Roughriders' highest total since Ed Gainey picked off 10 passes in 2017.
• Twenty-four per cent of Saskatchewan's 399 points this season have been scored following a turnover.
• Schaffer-Baker needs two receptions to reach 200 for his career.
• The Roughriders have won their past six games at Commonwealth Stadium, dating back to 2019.