Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot, and who's not. This week's list include...
The Saskatchewan Roughriders used an uncharacteristic fast start to propel them to victory in Ottawa over the Redblacks.
But it was far from the complete performance the CFL club had been looking for in the 20-13 win.
“I hope it catapults us into making us play better,” Riders quarterback Trevor Harris said. “I don’t think it’s any secret it’s not what our standard is. I thought we started out well but it was a lot of self-inflicted wounds.”
The win ends a two-game slide for the Riders, the first time the team had lost back-to-back games. The Riders now have an 11-4 record — the best in the CFL.
But Harris said the team isn’t breathing a sigh of relief.
“You’re going to have times when it’s not going smooth. I thought we played good football but we hurt ourselves,” Harris said. “We moved the football and were getting first downs, we just took some big plays off the field. It’s on us to be better. That’s not something I’m worried about, but something we address. Make no mistake, I have full confidence this team will be right where we need to be. We have three weeks to get it right and I will turn over every stone possible to make it right because this group has a chance to get it done and we’re not going to waste this opportunity.”
Saskatchewan scored on the opening drive as running back AJ Ouellette, who was running the short-yardage team with quarterback Tommy Stevens out with a knee injury, plunged in from one yard out.
Antoine Brooks Jr., who was starting at the SAM linebacker spot, extended the lead with a pick-six on the first play of the second quarter.
“It was a dream come true,” Brooks said. “It takes a lot of weeks of preparation just to get here and be where I am at. I did a lot of film preparation and talking to my teammates and making sure we are communicating to get the right play.”
That was the only points the Riders mustered for a long stretch, the next coming when Harris connected with Dohnte Meyers on a slant that turned into a 66-yard touchdown.
Saskatchewan’s offence mustered 84 yards on its opening drive and then just 87 the next seven drives.
Head coach Corey Mace said they were missing some of the small details.
“It’s just a little uncharacteristic of us. I’m not taking anything from those guys. They were disappointed but I know these guys and I know the core of the guys and what it looks like,” Mace said. “I’m not overly concerned. I thought we moved the ball efficiently at times but we keep stumbling on ourselves, especially in the scoring zone.”
Harris also believed the group caused their own headaches out there.
“Self-inflicted wounds for sure,” Harris said. “There was a couple little ones that were just frustrating to some degree. There was one where I was getting ready to throw the ball over the middle to Dohnte and Sam (Emilus) thought it was for him and he tipped it up and that would have been a great gash.
“On second down, they played an intricate and good coverage that they hadn’t shown too much of and did a good job of forcing my read to go to the opposite way and then we are off the field … Those are the things where I have played on great offences before and there’s always a time right before you were going to explode and become who you want to be, little things like this can happen. I’m not going to apologize for the win.”
Harris said this is the kind of game where you have hard conversations and take accountability for your job.
“This is a group that takes accountability on their own. I can assure you the mark of great teams are the ones that don’t make the same mistake twice. I can assure you there won’t be another game like this where we shoot ourselves in the foot,” Harris said.
Overall, Harris had an efficient game for the Riders despite the team only scoring two touchdowns on offence. The veteran completed 27 of 33 pass attempts (81.8 per cent) for 341 yards and a touchdown.
The defence came up big for the Green and White, forcing Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown to throw three interceptions before he was replaced by Dustin Crum. Brown only threw for 141 yards while Crum added 99 yards and a touchdown to Justin Hardy.
It was a linebacker hat trick for the picks with Brooks, A.J. Allen and Jameer Thurman with the interceptions.
Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Jameer Thurman (6) celebrates an interception against the Ottawa Redblacks with teammate defensive back DaMarcus Fields (22) during second half CFL action in Ottawa, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)
“Our communication was very big this week,” Brooks said. “We made sure we were doing a lot of talking and coverages and certain things to make sure we can execute.”
Defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. left the game with an apparent leg injury.
“I saw him in the hallway and he was laughing and stuff like that. I think he will be fine but you never know,” Mace said.
Meyers had 158 yards in the game, putting him over 1,000 yards for the season.
Ouellette not only had 53 yards and a touchdown in the game, but made a key tackle after defensive lineman Bryce Carter recovered a fumble by Harris and went 81 yards before the rusher tackled him.
“That’s AJ Ouellette in a nutshell — that play right there,” Harris said. “That’s our team mindset and mantra in a nutshell — we’re getting ready to put the game away and then have an unfortunate situation happen. No one stops giving effort.”
Kicker Campbell Fair made his CFL debut with veteran starter Brett Lauther out with a back injury. He didn’t attempt a field goal but missed both of his convert attempts. The Riders converted on their only two-point attempt in the game — a pass from Harris to Ajou Ajou.
Redblacks kicker Lewis Ward missed one of his three field goal attempts but did make his only convert kick attempt.
If the B.C. Lions lose to the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday, the Riders would clinch a home playoff game.
