For all the things that caused the Saskatchewan Roughriders to lose Thursday’s epic tilt to the Edmonton Elks, Trevor Harris’ late fourth-quarter incomplete pass could be getting more attention.
At least that’s how TSN’s Farhan Lalji feels.
“It was the previous drive (before Elks’ Vincent Blanchard’s game-winning field goal) where they had to settle for the chip-shot field goal, where he has a receiver open in the end zone, Johnson, and he left it short,” Lalji said on Friday’s edition of the SportsCage. “Trevor makes that throw 99 times out of 100. If he makes it, it’s going to get caught, and it’s a touchdown – and the game’s over.
“That’s the play that stands out to me.”
It’s hard to dispute Lalji’s point.
The miscue in question came on a second-and-goal try from the three-yard line. Johnson was all by his lonesome near the back of the end zone, but Harris underthrew him.
That forced the Riders to settle for an 11-yard field goal from Alex Hale with 1:46 on the clock. That gave them a two-point lead, rather than five-point advantage before a convert attempt.
“Sometimes a guy is that wide open, and you almost try to be too perfect, and you just try to fit the ball and float in there because you have time rather than just throwing it like you normally do,” Lalji said.
On the other side, the Riders were burned by former teammate and Harris’ predecessor at the quarterback position in Regina, Cody Fajardo, who threw for 510 yards and four touchdown passes. Lalji said you’ve got to tip your hat to him.
The Riders contained the electric Justin Rankin, holding the running back to just 39 yards on 12 carries. They did a decent job of monitoring Fajardo’s underneath passes, too.
“Any defensive coordinator that you speak to in the Canadian Football League is going to tell you that if you’re going to play Edmonton, ‘Let’s find a way to make Cody beat you down the field,’” Lalji said. “And he did. He doesn’t always, but he did in this game.”
Harris was great on Thursday, late mistake aside, but Fajardo was that much better.
The two quarterbacks went shot for shot in the most thrilling contest of 2026 to date. But that probably doesn’t provide much consolation for the Riders or their fans.
“You took part in the best game of the season, but you also saw your former quarterback put up (510) yards in a win. In a game, really, Saskatchewan should have won,” Lalji said. “That game was right there for Sask to fully put the nail in the coffin, and Edmonton came back and found a way.”
