Riders-Hamilton-Dressler-Jul26 jlguo
Slotback Weston Dressler attempts to break a tackle during Sunday's meeting with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium. (Photo: Saskatchewan Roughriders/Electric Umbrella)

Heading into Sunday's game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were talking about beginning their climb out of the valley.

That valley got a little deeper on Sunday with yet another loss as they fell 31-21 to the Ti-Cats at Mosaic Stadium, dropping their record to 0-5 on the season.

For the fourth time this year, the Riders held the lead in the fourth quarter and were unable to finish the job, giving up 14 points to Hamilton in the final frame on their way to their fourth home loss of the year.

“We just have to keep hanging on to the life that we have and understand that we are close, it's not a giant mountain that we have to climb, we're right there, we just have to keep finding ways to get better and finish these games,” said slotback Weston Dressler.

“You can be as close as you want, but if you don't figure it out, it's not going to work.”

Defensively, the Riders continue to drop the ball as they were unable to get the big stop when they needed it down the stretch. For the third straight game, the defence failed to force a turnover and finished with just one sack.

“We're young in some places and right now we can't make mistakes, we don't have that power right now to make a mistake and then comeback,” said head coach Corey Chamblin. “Right now, if we make a mistake than here comes the second mistake. We will make mistakes, just make them back-to-back-to-back and then let them snowball.”

“There's been glimpses in a number of the games, you see that moment and we had some big stops today, I was real proud of some of things we did defensively, but still too many points,” said defensive end John Chick, who finished with three tackles in the loss.

“Everybody's got to dig, scratch, claw and find a way to (get things turned around) and more importantly believe that we can do it.”

Saskatchewan was right in the game through the first three quarters again. They went into halftime tied after a 19-yard touchdown and two-point conversion by Rob Bagg.

A stellar drive to open the second half put Saskatchewan in front 21-14 when Brett Smith ran in from one-yard out after four completions from Kevin Glenn and a 20-yard run by Anthony Allen.

However, the game turned at the end of the third quarter when Glenn threw an interception to Rico Murray, which he returned to the one. The Riders defence came up with the stop, to hold Hamilton to three points, but Glenn didn't return to the game after that play.

Smith went in at quarterback and couldn't get the offence moving, which opened the door for Hamilton to come back for the win.

So for the second time this season, the Riders lost their starting quarterback in a game that they were leading and went on to lose.

Chamblin is hoping that it's nothing serious with Glenn, who was spotted getting his right throwing shoulder worked on during the fourth quarter. The Riders have a short week as they head to Edmonton on Friday.

“It's going to be a huge loss, but we're trying to stay positive. We don't know what the diagnosis is yet and we're just hopeful that he can stay with us,” said running back Jerome Messam.

The Riders' running back didn't really get a chance to get going in the loss as Messam and Allen finished with just five carries each. The CFL's leading rusher felt they could have went back to the ground a bit more during the game.

“I don't think we ran the ball enough, I don't think it was anything that they did, we ran the ball pretty well when we did get the touches, but that's the way it goes sometimes,” said Messam, who finished with 23 yards rushing and 34 receiving. “We're a balanced team, we do enough running and passing, but today we just went away from the run.”

Glenn was 22-of-33 for 255 yards before leaving. Smith finished the game 2-for-4 with 12 yards passing. He also ran twice for 15 yards, including the one-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

CJ Gable was key for the Ti-Cats early in the game as he extended drives during the first half and finished the game with 20 carries for 135 yards.

Zach Collaros threw for 284 yards on 19-of-28 passing with one touchdown, a 42-yard bomb to a wide-open Junior Collins in the first quarter that put Hamilton in front 7-3 early.

Saskatchewan will return to action on Friday in Edmonton against the 3-1 Eskimos.