It’s a win or go home week for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as try to avoid missing the postseason for the first time in a decade.

Saskatchewan has made the trip north to Edmonton where they square off with an equally struggling Eskimos team at Commonwealth Stadium on Thanksgiving Monday afternoon. 

The Eskimos have seen their lead in the CFL’s West Division evaporate.  Edmonton now sits two points behind the Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions after starting 5-0.

That 5-0 start included the only other meeting between these two teams so far during the regular season when Edmonton spoiled the Riders season opener at Mosaic Stadium with a 45-28 beating.

The Riders have had a long week to reflect on a season that’s been thrown upside down by back-to-back stink bombs against the Stamps and Lions.

It's been a crazy week in Riderville for the Roughriders who are look to bounce back from losing back-to-back games by a combined score of 82-8.

To start the week off, the Roughriders took an extra day off before getting down to work this week following a 40-3 debacle at McMahon Stadium last Saturday that saw their playoff hopes pushed to the limit.  (The Riders are six points out of the final playoff spot)

When they did hit the field on Thursday morning, it was with a long list of starters added to the injury report.  Most noticeable being quarterback Darian Durant.

Durant suffered an injured foot during the third quarter of the Calgary game and at that point in the week, it didn't look like the Riders star pivot was going to be in the lineup for Monday afternoon's Thanksgiving matchup in Edmonton.

That was until Saturday when Durant return to practice and declared himself essentially ready to go. 

“The situation we're in, it's tough we need this game and it's pretty much do or die for us.  If circumstances was different, definitely rest it, but given the situation, I'm doing my best to try and get on the field on Monday,” said Durant following Saturday's walkthrough at Mosaic Stadium.

Head coach Ken Miller even sounded optimistic that his QB would be in the lineup come Monday, “Darian was out here, got into our practice a little bit, had a few reps and then did somethings on his own and was much improved.”

That tone changed on Sunday afternoon when the Riders arrived in Edmonton and coach Miller met with the media.  He said Ryan Dinwiddie would be starting.

“He is well prepared and anxious to go and has done a tremendous job this week of preparation and getting ready to go, so I look forward to him playing well,” stated Miller.

Durant will be available though, Miller added, but only in an emergency situation, “He's going to be okay to play if pressed into service, so I'd rather not have him play, but if we absolutely have to have him because of some circumstance, we probably could play him.”

This will mark Ryan Dinwiddie's first start since 2008 when he was with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  He's only seen spot service since signing on with the Riders last season and is 23-of-39 passing this season with 346 yards and one touchdown.

Dinwiddie says he's excited for the chance to just go out and play, “I think everybody in this league wants to play and our competitors, so for me it's just time to go have fun with the boys and that's something that I've been wanting for a long while.”

As for what to do with the Riders anemic offence, he says there are just a few things that need to be cleaned up, “It felt like we moved the ball at times, it just we get into the score zone and then timely turnovers.  The last two weeks we had a couple of turnovers that went the other way and instead of being a seven point game, it's a 17 point game.”

Dinwiddie will have something at his disposal that Durant hasn't had over those past two weeks, when scoring just eight points in eight quarters, as slotback Andy Fantuz will make his return from injury against the Eskimos.

He hit the field from Day One this week and said he felt ready to go, “I feel great and definitely preparing to play.  I think the extra days off helped me a lot, so I'm ready to go and itching to get on the field.”

Will Fantuz be enough to get the Riders back on track as they look to stay alive in the playoff hunt?

He says they haven't been too far off over the last few weeks, “I don't think we're too far from where we need to be, we just have to start fast.  We've been slow in the first quarter for weeks now and we've got to play all quarters if we want to win.”

On the defensive side of the ball, there will be a new face for the Riders defence as defensive back Tyron Brackenridge fills in for the injured Lance Frazier.  Frazier has been slowed by a sore hamstring over the past few weeks.

The Riders will have Jerrell Freeman, Chris McKenzie and Brandon West, who all missed time this week at practice. 

This week is do or die for the Riders as a win would keep them in the playoff hunt, but a loss and they're playing for 2012 the rest of the season.  The Riders sit at 4-9 coming and trail the Eskimos for the West's final playoff spot by six points.

Miller says they haven't been paying any attention to the standings as they prepare for this must win game, “We need this win.  If we win this game we're in a good position, if we don't win this game then we're in a tougher spot and after the game we'll sort where we're at and go from there.”

He adds they're staying with the one game at a time mentality that he's preached about since replacing Greg Marshall, “We threw out the standings about five or six weeks ago and really have just tried to focus on one game at a time because that's what we have to do.  Looking ahead to other scenarios really isn't going to pay us dividends.”

The Riders season will be in the hands of backup Ryan Dinwiddie when they kickoff from Commonwealth Stadium at 2:30pm on Thanksgiving Monday.

 

The other CFL matchup today has Montreal hosting Toronto.