11:02 a .m.
Going to be a beautiful fall day for some football, though the teams' kickers might argue differently. Temperature will be around 18 C at kickoff under mainly sunny skies, but winds will be brisk, coming out of the southwest at 30 km/h with gusts to 50. There’s no chance of precipitation.
11:01 a.m.
The Rider Broadcast Network is on the air, with Teagan Witko and Wes Cates bringing fans plenty of special guests to break down what to expect from today’s contest. Then Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the game call when things kick off at 1 p.m.
11 a.m.
Well, folks, it’s all come down to this.
It’s the second meeting of back-to-back games between the 2025 Grey Cup finalists, it’s a huge game with playoff implications, it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders taking on the Montreal Alouettes at Mosaic Stadium!
After a couple of weeks of convoluted scenarios with regards to who makes the playoffs out of the West Division and the Riders hanging on for their playoff lives, things have boiled down to the nitty gritty.
Simply enough, Saskatchewan wins and they’re finally, officially in.
That’s because the Edmonton Elks did the Riders a huge favour on Friday night when they took a 35-27 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. As a result, if the Riders win and they finish tied at 9-9 with Winnipeg and Calgary after next week’s slate of games, they’ll land fourth place and the cross-over spot into the East Division.
Their task won’t be easy this afternoon, though not quite as hard as last week.
Saskatchewan is coming off an ugly 44-24 loss last week in Montreal where the Alouettes ran away with things in the second half.
The 13-3 Als saw their playoff picture settled weeks ago, though, and they’ve opted to rest a handful of big-time veterans in advance of their postseason run. As a result, quarterback Davis Alexander and 1,000-yard receivers Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead and running back Stevie Scott III will be on the sidelines this afternoon.
Dustin Crumb gets the start at pivot for Montreal, and as Saskatchewan saw last week, he’ll still have plenty of weapons to work with, including receivers Jerreth Sterns and Charleston Rambo, both of whom had huge games against the Riders.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, had incredibly good news this week. Sam Emilus and KeeSean Johnson both returned to the receiving corps, and combined with Kian Schaffer-Baker, give quarterback Trevor Harris all three of his key receivers for the first time since late July.
So things are shaping up nicely for Saskatchewan today, now they just have to go out and get the job done.
Saskatchewan’s depth chart:
Montreal’s depth chart:
