Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
October football has arrived for the Saskatoon Hilltops with their most consequential game of their 2026 season on the way.
While the Hilltops are still in the process of trying to find their game with playoffs quickly approaching, practice this week has gone to plan according to quarterback Griffin Sander.
Read more:
- Sask. Stanley Cup champion defenceman Lyle Odelein dead at 58
- Saskatchewan Roughriders lose 37-31 to Calgary Stampeders
- Saskatoon archer wins Canada’s first world field medal
“Tempo has been great,” Sander said.
“Everybody has been focused, good intensity all week. We’ve just been working hard one day at a time and running through all our plays, getting our new stuff in.”
The Hilltops will be back at SMF Field on this afternoon for their final game of the Prairie Football Conference (PFC) regular season, set to play host to the Winnipeg Rifles.
Coming off a 19-6 loss last weekend to the undefeated Regina Thunder, home field advantage for conference semifinals will be on the line for Saskatoon.
A win over Winnipeg would secure a home playoff date next weekend for the Hilltops, which head coach Tom Sargeant said is top of mind for the team trying to lock up second place in the PFC.
“There’s no tomorrow now,” Sargeant said.
“This is the biggest game of our year because we win, we get a home playoff game and that’s huge.”
The Hilltops will look to avoid limping into the post-season after dropping two of their last three games, both losses to the powerhouse Thunder.
Offensively, Saskatoon could not break through the Regina defence at home last weekend as they failed to find the end zone and only mustered 80 yards of offence through the air.
Sargeant said it’s been a struggle to string together long series and finish drives with touchdowns this season.
“We got to get more first downs,” he said.
“We got to keep that defence off the field and keep the offence on the field. When we’re able to do that, then we’re able to play complementary football for one another.”
Sander has thrown for the second-most yards of any quarterback in the PFC this season with 1,746 yards passing, however last week’s game against Regina was a lowlight as he completed just 10-of-19 pass attempts and averaged only 4.2 yards per throw.
“We just weren’t connected,” Sander said.
“Just got to hit my guys. We ran the ball really well, just got to be better passing the ball in the air. Got to stay on the field more and finish in the end zone.”
Consistency has been a struggle all season for the Hilltops, as they’ve earned back-to-back victories just once this summer and have lost three regular season games for the first time since 2022.
Today’s game will be a big test according to Sargeant on where the team is at being able to string together high-octane offence, punishing defence and electric special teams.
“Football is a game about momentum, it’s about a game of adversity and you have got to handle both,” Sargeant said.
“At times when we’ve had momentum we’ve done okay, but we haven’t kept it. At times when adversity hits, we haven’t responded to it very well.”
A bright spot against the Thunder for Saskatoon was their defence, which held the PFC’s most potent attack to under 20 points which all came off the foot of kicker Harry Case.
“To only give up 19 points against Regina last week, a team that’s been averaging 50 points a game, that certainly gives you a lot of confidence,” Sargeant said.
“We’re gelling at the right time, there’s a good belief system and we got a good game plan this week against Winnipeg.”
Sander added possession of the football will be key against Winnipeg, who boast one of the conference’s top quarterbacks this season in Riley Element who has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards passing and 13 touchdowns to lead all PFC pivots.
“We just want to stay on the field lots,” Sander said.
“Keep our defence off the field, lots of first downs, lots of points and just feel satisfied that we left it all out there.”
A Saskatoon win would clinch second place in the conference, however a loss and an Edmonton Wildcats victory this weekend would mean the Hilltops would hit the road to begin playoffs for the first time since 1990.
Even more important for Sargeant will be seeing how the team plays ahead of playoff football with the most pressure of the year to come.
“We’re still dealing with the ebbs and flows of a 60-minute game,” Sargeant said.
“It’s coming, but I need to see great things this weekend.”
The Hilltops (4-3) and Rifles (2-5) will meet at SMF Field today with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Read more:
