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It's been a long time since Geroy Simon has suited up in a Labour Day Classic and he's happy to be on the green and white side this time around.

The 15-year CFL veteran has played in two of the games at Mosaic Stadium before, but they were both with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – in his first two seasons – and they both resulted in a loss for the visiting team.

“I just remembered losing it,” he said when asked about his memories of those games on Friday.  “Not a lot of good memories when I was with the Bombers and coming to town, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and turning that fortune around.”

After the 2000 season, he left Winnipeg for BC, who don't have a natural rivalry for the Labour Day weekend, so he hasn't had the chance to experience the big midseason game for the past 13 seasons.

“This is one of the reasons why I wanted to come to Saskatchewan and I'm really looking forward to it,” he said.  “I'm really looking forward to it, it's going to be a great atmosphere and hopefully we're going to come out on the right side of the game.”

The Blue Bombers haven't won a Labour Day Classic since 2004 and are coming off a 52-0 beating at the hands of the Riders in last year's game.  Simon says that kind of history can wear on a franchise.

“A team that goes to a place and loses a lot, it can definitely get in your head, you just think you're jinxed and no matter what they do they're going to come out with a loss,” he said.  “Hopefully they're feeling that way this week coming in and we're just looking forward to playing our game.”

The Bombers are reeling coming into this game as well, having struggled to a 1-7 record to start the season, but Simon says they need to exercise caution and not take Winnipeg lightly because he knows from experience that their season isn't done.

“Do you not remember 2011 with the BC Lions, we were 1-7 and we ended up winning the Grey Cup, so we're not going to take anybody lightly,” he said.  “These guys have a lot of talent, they have a former defensive player of the year, they have the league's sack leader, they've got some guys that can really do some good things, so we're not taking them lightly.”

The Riders are going into the game focused on adding to their CFL-best 7-1 record, but they know Winnipeg isn't going to make life easy on them.

“They're a group that flies around, they're front seven is very good, but we have some things that we can take advantage of,” Simon said.  “We've got to take care of their rush ends, those guys are really good and they really get up field and get after the quarterback, so we've got to control those guys and make sure they don't screw up the game plan.”

Simon had 12 catches for 219 yards and one touchdown this season.  He'll be hoping to add to that total on Sunday against the Blue Bombers.  They kick-off at 2:00pm from Mosaic Stadium.

Riders News & Notes...

-- The Labour Day Classic is close to being a sellout.  By midday on Friday, there were only 1,000 tickets left and those are expected to go before kick-off on Sunday, making it the largest crowd for a Labour Day game in Mosaic Stadium history with close to 45,000 in attendance.

-- The status of Rob Bagg for Sunday's game is still being decided.  He looked good in practice on Friday, taking part in drills with the first team offence, the scout team offence and even on special teams, just to really give it a test.  Head coach Corey Chamblin said they won't be making a decision until Saturday on whether he plays.

-- It's looking more and more doubtful that offensive guard Chris Best will be playing on Sunday as he missed his third straight practice on Friday.  Chamblin listed him as questionable for Sunday.  On the other hand, returner Tristan Jackson was listed as “thinkable” by Chamblin, whatever that means.

-- The Riders will be hosting “SGI Play It Safe Day” on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.  There will be a barbeque starting at 10:00am, which will be followed by the team's walkthrough and an autograph session.  Fans are encourage to come early due to a limited amount of autograph cards and giveaways available.