By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Stampeders travel into hostile territory this week as they visit Mosaic Stadium to take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Calgary (11-2, first place in the West) won an important divisional game against the BC Lions last week by a 14-7 score.  

The Riders (9-4) lost an ugly one in Edmonton last week, 24-0, and dropped into third place in the West. The two teams have yet to meet this season and this is the latest in the schedule for a first meeting between Calgary and Saskatchewan since 1995.

Calgary is 5-5 in its past 10 games at Mosaic but is currently on a two-game losing streak after posting four straight wins from 2010 to 2012. The Stamps lost 36-21 in Week 2 last season in their only visit to Regina in 2013.

The Stampeders are 4-1 against the West this season and a league best 5-1 on the road while the Riders are an impressive 5-1 at home and 4-2 against teams from the West. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. MDT at Mosaic Stadium in Regina
Television: TSN, ESPN2
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

The Stamps defence came to play in last week’s game as the unit allowed just seven points in the form of one touchdown and shut down the Lions offence to the tune of 245 total yards.

It was the first time in four games the Stamps defence had allowed fewer than 30 points and the eighth time this year Calgary has given up 20 points or fewer (8-0 in those games).

DT Quinn Smith recorded the first sack of his career while DT Junior Turner chipped in with his second sack of the year. LB Deron Mayo had eight tackles in the win while DB Brandon Smith had four stops and an interception.

Calgary’s depleted d-line will face a Riders o-line considered to be one of the best and which ranks fourth in the CFL in sacks allowed with 35.

On offence, the powerful Stampeders running game was the difference as RB Jon Cornish racked up 156 yards along the ground, giving him an average of 150.5 rushing yards in his past four games. The Stamps now lead the CFL in rushing and the numbers give a good indication as to the importance of a good running attack.

After 56 games played this season, the winning teams have rushed for more than 100 yards 40 times and only eight times has a team winning the rushing battle lost the game.

Winning teams average 128 yards rushing per game this season compared to just 78 for losing teams.

Calgary, at 11-2, has rushed for more than 100 yards in all but one game this season. The Riders have allowed more than 100 yards rushing only five times this season, but three of those have come in the last four games.

WR Maurice Price led the team last week with just two catches for 66 yards. KR Jock Sanders was named the CFL’s special teams player of the Week for his 156 return yards against the Lions. 

Who to watch:

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2014 stats – 95 carries, 743 yards rushing, 7.8 yard average, 4 rushing TDs – leads team in rushing, second in CFL
Last game – 20 carries, 156 rushing yards, 7.8 yard average, 0 rushing TD –  Week 14 vs BC – CFL Canadian player of the week; fourth straight game over 100 rushing yards
2013 vs Ssk. – 44 carries, 326 rushing yards, 7.4 yard average – 5 TDs – three games

Stampeders offensive line
Members – OT Stanley Bryant, OT Spencer Wilson, OT Edward Harrison, OG Shane Bergman, OG Brander Craighead, OG Pierre Lavertu, C Brent Jones
2014 stats – 1,872 yards rushing (1st), 6.3 yards per carry (2nd), 17 rushing Tds (1st), 18 sacks allowed (1st), 6 interceptions thrown (1st)
Last game – 162 yards rushing, 5.8 yard average, 0 TDs, 3 sacks allowed

Keon Raymond, DB, #25
2014 stats – 28 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 INTs, 4 pass knockdowns, 1 TD
Last game – 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass knockdown – Week 14 vs BC
2013 vs Ssk. – 3 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 1 sack, 2 pass knockdowns – two games

Juwan Simpson, MLB, #12
2014 stats – 51 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 4 pass knockdowns, – tied for second on team in tackles, tied for ninth in CFL
Last game – 9 tackles – Week 14 vs BC – led team in tackles
2013 vs Ssk. – 14 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble – three games

The Roughriders                                 

Saskatchewan has a 9-4 record, tied for the second best in the CFL.

The Riders lost starting QB Darian Durant to injury in the Banjo Bowl (Week 11) and since that time have lost two of three games with an offence that has averaged only 12.6 points per game and is coming off its first shutout in 28 years.

In the two losses, the Riders have only 325 total yards of offence, four giveaways, 11 sacks allowed and took seven holding penalties from the o-line.

Even their vaunted rushing attack has suffered in Durant’s absence, averaging only 92.3 yards per game over the past three games compared to a league-leading 150.7 yards per game after the first 11 weeks.

QB Tino Sunseri (#12) has struggled to guide the offence and may give way to QB Seth Doege (#9). SB Weston Dressler has been a spark since his return but SB Chris Getzlaf (#89) is having an off year while WR Taj Smith is gone for the season due to injury.

The Riders defence has been solid all season, allowing more than 30 points in a game only three times this year. But the unit has been leaky lately, averaging 27.6 points per game over the past five games after allowing fewer than 20 points in six of the first eight games.

More alarming for Rider Nation is the league-high 299 yards rushing yards the Riders defence allowed in last week’s loss to Edmonton.

Still, there are plenty of good players to keep an eye on in DT Tearrius George (#93), DE Ricky Foley (#95), LB Brian Peters (#27) and S Tyron Brackenridge (#41), to name a few.  

Who to watch:

Weston Dressler, SB, #7
2014 stats – 18 catches, 249 receiving yards, 13.8 yard average, 1 TD; 19 punt returns, 257 return yards, 13.5 yard average, 2 TDs – five games played; leads CFL in punt return TDs
Last game – 2 catches, 39 receiving yards, 19.5 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 14 vs Edm.
2013 vs Cgy. –  19 catches, 224 receiving yards, 11.8 yard average, 1 TD – three games played

Anthony Allen, RB, #26
2014 stats – 119 carries, 666 rushing yards, 5.6 yard average, 5 rushing TDs –  fourth in  CFL in rushing, tied for second in CFL in touchdowns (7)   
Last game – 11 carries, 73 rushing yards, 6.6 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 14 vs Edm.
2013 vs Cgy. – did not play

John Chick, DE, #97
2014 stats – 34 tackles, 10 tackles for losses, 14 sacks, 2 forced fumbles – leads CFL in sacks
Last game – 6 tackles – Week 14 vs Edm.
2013 vs Cgy. – 8 tackles, 3 sacks – three games

Stats

The CFL this Week

Friday, Oct. 3, 5 p.m. – Winnipeg (6-7) at Ottawa (1-11)
Saturday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m. – Edmonton (9-4) at Toronto (4-8)
Saturday, Oct. 4,  5 p.m. – BC (7-6) at Hamilton (5-7)
Bye: Montreal