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Roughriders bring in the noise

Sep 9, 2011 | 5:25 PM

A new face was on the sideline for the Saskatchewan Roughriders before the Banjo Bowl.

A sound technician stood in front of his sound board blaring crowd noise during the Roughriders final practice before heading to Winnipeg.

“It's going to be noisy at the game on Sunday,” explained Head Coach Ken Miller when asked for reasoning behind the crowd noise, “We just wanted to get used to working on our silent count on offense.”

The noise was also blaring just before the snap for the defence as well. Miller says that was to ensure the defence could make the right calls just based on signals from the sideline and each other.

This isn't a new feature at a Roughrider practice. The team used speakers before playoff games in previous years and also before they play at B.C. Place Stadium, another consistently loud crowd.

Quarterback Darian Durant knows the Blue Bomber faithful will be engaged early and often on Sunday.

“It could be (loud). It got pretty noisy last year when they jumped on us. Sometimes it's hard to hear out there so we just worked on it just to make sure if we needed it we have practiced it.”

As for the defence, defensive back Lance Frazier says any noise made pre-snap shouldn't have too big an impact.

“We're totally zoned out. We can't even hear the crowd while we're playing. It actually makes you focus more because when the offense can't hear you know they're more adept at making mistakes.”

News and Notes

Defensive end Shawn Lemon will debut with the Roughriders in place of Remond Willis on Sunday. The Roughriders will wear their away Retro uniforms in Winnipeg for the Banjo Bowl.

An Atlanta Falcon scout was at Roughriders practice taking a look at a specific player.

news@panow.com