By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders lock horns for the second time in four weeks as the Riders make their only visit to McMahon Stadium this season.

Calgary (13-5) took care of business in Winnipeg last week, beating the Bombers by a 33-23 score. The win clinched first place for the Stamps for the second straight season and 18th time in club history. The road victory also tied a franchise record for road wins with seven (with one road game still to be played) and puts the Stamps in position to challenge the club record for wins (15) with three games to go.

The Riders (9-7) continued their second-half season stumble, losing 24-19 at home to the Eskimos, making it four straight losses for the Green and White.

Saskatchewan will not have a home playoff game this year and needs to get back on the winning track to hold off the Lions and stay in the West playoffs. Calgary beat the Riders 31-24 back in Week 15 in Regina and is currently on a six-game winning streak against Saskatchewan at home dating back to 2010.

Calgary is 6-1 at home this season and 6-1 against the West while the Riders are 4-4 on the road and 4-4 against the West. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. MDT at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

The Stamps may have let the Bombers hang around a bit longer than Stamps fans would have liked, but a nine-play, 60-yard drive late in the fourth quarter sealed the victory after Winnipeg had closed the gap to just three points.

The drive was reminiscent of Calgary’s 12-play, 85-yard winning drive against the Riders in Week 15 after Saskatchewan had tied the game in the fourth quarter.

RB Jon Cornish was once again the engine that drove the Stamps offence as he piled up 160 yards rushing and powered the Stamps to 16 rushing first downs and 33 minutes of offensive possession. Calgary’s league-leading running attack has dominated with Cornish in the lineup, averaging 174.5 yards per game compared to just 115.7 yards per game in the seven games he missed.

QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who will make his first career start against the Riders, passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns, the 258 yards being the highest total for Calgary since Week 9 against Ottawa. Calgary had more than 250 passing yards six times in the first 10 games but has only topped that mark once in the past six outings.

DE Shawn Lemon had another strong game on the defensive side of the ball and now has 10 tackles and three sacks in his last four games. He has set a career high in sacks with nine. DT Junior Turner had two tackles, a pass knockdown and a fumble recovery while DB Joshua Bell and MLB Juwan Simpson each had four tackles.

Calgary’s defence gave up a season-high 150 yards rushing yards rushing against the Bombers including allowing its first 100-yard rusher of the year as Paris Cotton ran for 108 yards.

Calgary has now given up more than 100 yards rushing six times this season including the past four games in a row. 

Who to watch:

Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, #19
2014 stats – 346 attempts, 217 completions, 62.7% completion rate, 2,812 passing yards, 19 TDs, 7 INTs, 98.1 QB rating – leads CFL in QB rating, 14-1 career record as starter
Last game – 28 attempts, 18 completions, 64.3% completion rate, 258 passing yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 88.1 QB rating –  Week 17 vs Wpg.
2014 vs Ssk. –  did not play due to injury
Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2014 stats – 127 carries, 977 yards rushing, 7.7-yard average, 5 rushing TDs – leads CFL in rushing
Last game – 21 carries, 160 rushing yards, 7.6 yard average, 1 rushing TD – Week 17 vs Wpg. – CFL Canadian and offensive player of the week; fourth game this season with more than 150 rushing yards
2014 vs Ssk. – 11 carries, 74 rushing yards, 7.4-yard average – Week 15 in Regina, left game early due to injury

Anthony Parker, SB, #86
2014 stats – 28 catches, 339 receiving yards, 12.1-yard average, 4 TDs – career bests in catches, receiving yards and TDs
Last game – 8 catches, 71 receiving yards, 8.8 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 17 vs Wpg.; career best in catches
2014 vs Ssk. –  2 catches, 13 receiving yards, 6.5 yard average, 1 TD – Week 15 in Regina

Brandon Smith, DB, #28
2014 stats – 74 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 pass knockdown, 3 forced fumbles – leads team in tackles, second in CFL
Last game – 9 tackles – Week 17 vs Wpg. – led team in tackles
2014 vs Ssk. – 2 tackles – Week 15 in Regina

Shawn Lemon, DE, #40
2014 stats – 25 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 4 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, 1 interception, 5 forced fumbles – leads team in sacks
Last game – 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble – Week 17 vs Wpg.
2014 vs Ssk. – 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble – Week 15 in Regina

The Roughriders                              

Things haven’t got any better for the Riders since they last met the Stamps back in Week 15. Saskatchewan lost both games they have since played and have dropped five of six games since QB Darian Durant was sidelined with an injury in Week 11.

The Riders turned back the clock and gave 2007 CFL MOP Kerry Joseph (#5) the start against the Eskimos, but the results were the same. Joseph did pass for 213 yards and threw two TD passes.

The Riders have allowed 21 sacks in their past six games after allowing 23 in the first 10 games.  Even more alarming for Riders fans was the season-low 54 yards rushing mustered by the offence, the third time in the past five games and fourth time overall the Riders have failed to hit the century mark.

Saskatchewan did rush for 100 yards and pass for 300 yards the last time they met the Stamps, only the second time all season an opposing team has managed that feat against Calgary.

The Riders’ keys on offence are RB Anthony Allen (#26), SB Weston Dressler (#7) and WR Rob Bagg (#6).

The Riders defence is in the bottom third of most categories but can get after the quarterback and can take the ball away, as evidenced by its league-leading 58 sacks and third-best 37 takeaways. DE John Chick (#97), DE Ricky Foley (#95) and DT Tearrius George (#93) all have double-digit sack totals. S Tyron Brackenridge (#41) is a hard-hitting safety while LB Brian Peters (#27) leads the team in tackles. 

Who to watch:

Kerry Joseph, QB, #5
2014 stats – 36 attempts, 17 completions, 47.2% completion rate, 213 passing yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 61.5 QB rating – one start
Last game – 36 attempts, 17 completions, 47.2% completion rate, 213 passing yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 61.5 QB rating – first start of season
2014 vs Cgy. –  did not play

Rob Bagg, WR, #6
2014 stats – 45 catches, 653 receiving yards, 14.5-yard average, 1 TD – leads team in receiving; leads all CFL Canadian receivers
Last game – 4 catches, 49 receiving yards, 24.5 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 17 vs Edm.; tied for team lead in catches
2014 vs Cgy. –  4 catches, 48 receiving yards, 24.0 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 15 in Regina

Ricky Foley, DE #95
2014 stats – 51 tackles, 1 tackle for losses, 11 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble – third on team in sacks, fourth in CFL
Last game – 5 tackles, 3 sacks – Week 17 vs Edm.
2014 vs Cgy. – 1 tackle – Week 15 in Regina

Stats

The CFL this Week

Friday, Oct. 24, 4:30 p.m. – Ottawa (2-13) at Montreal (7-8)
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2 p.m. – Hamilton (7-8) at Toronto (6-9)
Saturday, Oct. 25,  5 p.m. – BC (8-7) at Winnipeg (6-10)
Bye: Edmonton