GAME DAY: Riders hosting Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium

The Riders are hoping to prove they still have some fight left in them this season.

With their playoff hopes all but mathematically over, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will host the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday evening at Mosaic Stadium.

“What’s the most important is (that) those guys in the locker room believe,” said quarterback Kevin Glenn.

“That’s one thing we’ve done as a far as team is concerned is that we believe. Not only in the process but each other.”

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Glenn will make his first start at quarterback since tearing his pectoral muscle against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the end of July.

For most of the fans, thoughts of a playoff run in 2015 are over. The players, however, aren’t wired that way. If there’s even the slimmest of hopes, they will believe and fight for that goal until the bitter end.

Even then, when all hope is lost, they still get fired up to run out of that tunnel on game day.

“The desire never ever leaves. You want to go out there and have some pride about you,” said offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte.

This game with the Redblacks is a chance to show if this team does in fact have some pride.

It was just a few weeks ago in Ottawa when the Redblacks beat the Riders handily. That loss also appeared to be the straw that broke the camel’s back and forced change within the organization.

Just about everything went wrong in that game. On offence, Rider quarterbacks were sacked 10 times.

“They have a tough aggressive front. The way they play they try to make you one dimensional and take away the run,” said left tackle Xavier Fulton.

Not only will the Riders have to fight a Redblacks front-seven, they have to deal with a defence as a whole that does a lot of things right.

“They may not do a million things, but they are so sound. You have to be prepared for everything,” said interim head coach Bob Dyce.

FOREVER LINKED

Saturday night will also be the first time since last season that Glenn and Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris will be on the same field at the same time.

“Somehow, some way, we always end up together,” said Glenn.

“The funniest one was when we got traded for each other.”

That deal saw Burris traded by the Calgary Stampeders to the Tiger-Cats for Glenn.

The two broke into the league together with the Riders in the early 2000s. Since then, their stories have been forever linked.

Burris and Glenn have become close friends over the years and talk a fair bit about their careers, both in the past tense and the present.

Some believe that this could be the last meeting between the two veteran quarterbacks. The way this season has gone for both, that might not be the case.

“If you look at Kevin’s numbers when he was playing earlier in the year, you look at what Henry is doing – it doesn’t look like they should be shutting it down,” said Dyce.

ROSTER CHECK

The Riders have put two players on the six-game injured list this week. Defensive back Terrell Maze and fullback Scott McHenry are the latest added to that long list.

Added to the roster this week:

Quarterback Kevin Glenn
Defensive back Junior Mertile
Linebacker Nehemie Kankolongo
Fullback Spencer Moore
Receiver Seydou Junior Haidara

Removed from the roster this week:

Quarterback Blake Sims
Fullback Scott McHenry
Defensive back Terell Maze
Defensive back Mark LeGree
Receiver Alex Carroll

Kick off at Mosaic Stadium is at 7p.m.  Follow all the action on 900 CKBI, starting with the pre-game show at 6p.m..

 Email jgasson@cjme.com
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