Trevor Harris isn’t the least bit concerned about the expected raucous atmosphere he and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are about to enter when they visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Saturday’s Labour Day Classic rematch.
In fact, he’s at peace with it.
“I feel like the more chaotic an environment is, the more calm I get,” the veteran quarterback said to reporters in Regina. “It’s one of those things where you’re in your backyard when you’re a kid. It’s never the home crowd behind you and you’re up by 30 (points). It’s in a hostile environment and you can’t hear and you’re using signs and cadence.
“Their fans are going to bring it. Their fans do a great job for them with a lot of noise level. It’s on use to make sure we go execute. I like us as always.”
Harris is trying to lead his team to another win over the Blue Bombers after last Sunday’s 32-26 overtime decision. A victory would give the Riders (8-4) a six-point advantage in the standings over the Bombers (6-6) and allow them to sweep the two-game season series.
The last time the Riders travelled to Winnipeg was in November when they won the Grey Cup. Though that evokes such positive emotions, Harris won’t be in the mood for reminiscing the closer it gets to kickoff Saturday.
There’s a task at hand here.
“Each time you go somewhere, it has its own setting of its own,” Harris said. “I think about Winnipeg with the Banjo Bowl last versus the Grey Cup. I didn’t think about the Banjo Bowl. I don’t think that I’ll think about the Grey Cup, really.
“Last time we were there, it was a great memory. Green and white confetti coming down. Amazing time. At the same time, we’ve got to get to nine wins. We’ve got to beat Winnipeg, who’s a tough team. They’re going to come out excited to play this game, but so are we. It’s going to be a fun one.”
Harris comes into Saturday’s contest 10th on the CFL’s all-time passing list having moved ahead of the great Doug Flutie last week. Harris, 40, couldn’t help but note that Flutie got to 41,355 yards in just eight seasons.
“I wasn’t sure that I was good enough to play long enough,” Harris said. “Just to be mentioned in the same breath with these guys is something I don’t know if I deserve. It’s really awesome. I’ve had a lot of great teammates and coaches that have helped me get here.”
After throwing for 362 yards against the Bombers last week, Harris has the added challenge of trying to replicate that type of performance – and do it against the same opponent.
He’s gotten used to that, just like he’s gotten used to being the road team in Winnipeg.
“It’s cool,” he said. “At first when I came in the CFL, I was like, ‘We play the same team twice in a row? That’s weird.’ That’s not like anything you know down south in the U.S.
“You learn to appreciate it. The chess match within the chess match is fun.”
