Quarterback Darian Durant and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are looking for their fourth consecutive win when they host the BC Lions this afternoon. (Archived photo)

 

 

Saturday afternoon’s showdown at Mosaic Stadium between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions has two of the CFL’s hottest teams going head-to-head.

The Riders story is well known as they’ve won three straight games since Ken Miller ended his brief retirement and returned as head coach.  They sit at 4-7.  

The Lions are finding their stride as of late, winning their last four games and are one game up on Saskatchewan in the CFL’s West Division.

“Both teams have been playing well recently and I think it's going to be a hard fought game,” said Miller following the Riders final walkthrough on Friday.

The last time these two teams hit the field it looked like both of them were headed for long seasons with one win between them.  BC won that game 24-11 at Empire Field.

Miller feels the biggest key to the turn around for his squad has been his players playing with more confidence over the past three weeks, “I think that they're playing enthusiastically, great energy.  I think when you watch our defence that you see them fly around and sprint to the football the way that we have in past years.”

Looking at the Lions, Miller says they appear to be playing better on both sides of the ball, “I think their quarterback is more consistent and their getting more consistent play out of their receivers.  

“Then on defence, they've been gang busters with their pass rush and their coverage and then they play solid teams.”

With one game separating these two teams and both with an eye on the playoffs, it’s expected to be a playoff-like atmosphere at Mosaic Stadium when they hit the field at 2pm.

“It's actually been playoff games for us since the break,” said linebacker Jerrell Freeman.  “We know we've got to come out here and get these wins under our belt to go ahead and solidify ourselves in this playoff run.”

Freeman says he fully expects the Lions to be in top form on Saturday, “You can tell that they're starting to gel better as a team.  It's one of those things where you're going to get two pretty good teams in here and we're just going to have to do work.”

The Riders are going to have to pick the win without two leaders in slotback Andy Fantuz and defensive back Lance Frazier who were both left off the 46-man roster for Saturday’s game.

“We really haven't had Andy very much this season and so it's kind of just business as usual from an offensive perspective,” said Miller.  “Lance is a defensive captain and so we'll miss him and his leadership.”

Quarterback Darian Durant says they’re going to miss Fantuz’s presence on the field, but feels they should be fine.

“We have some wrinkles, we have some things that we want to do to take advantage of the coverages that they play and we'll see how it goes and hopefully we get an opportunity to stretch the field a little bit and make some plays.”

Defensive back Eddie Russ and defensive lineman Mathieu Boulay will take Fantuz and Frazier’s spots on the roster.  Miller says he didn’t know what role Russ would play yet, “We'll see how that goes and may make game time adjustments as we move forward, but that's our plan at this point.”

Miller says a key on defence for them will be to contain slotback Geroy Simon and the BC receivers, “We have to be affective at shutting those people down in order for us to win the football game.”

The Riders have been taking the season one game at time since the bye week and have gone 3-0 since.  Durant says that approach has worked for them, “It's a one game season each and every week and here we are fighting for a playoff spot when no one really gave us a shot.

“We look at it that this game is the most important (each week),” added Miller. “Then when we get down to the end and have played the last regular season game, we'll sort it out and see where we are.”

Saskatchewan has only scored points in the first quarter five times during 2011 season, being outscored 52-32 in the process, but Durant says scoring early isn’t the only recipe for a win, “It's not always how you start, it's how you finish and as long as we get that W at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.”

 

GAME NOTES: This game marks the 18th straight sellout at Mosaic Stadium

Saskatchewan will be looking to win their first straight game for the first time since 2008 when the started the season 6-0.  They hold a 90-78-4 edge over the Lions all-time.

Ken Miller can move past John Gregory and into fourth place on the Riders all-time wins list with a win on Saturday.

BC’s Simon comes into this week’s game 308 yards out of second place on the CFL’s all-time receiving yard list.  Allen Pitts sits ahead of him at 14,891 yards.

Former Rider and current Lions kicker Paul McCallum has made 22 field goals in a row with his last miss coming from 57 yards on the final play back in Week 2.