‘We’ve been an underdog all year’: Riders ready for West final showdown in Winnipeg

The Saskatchewan Roughriders once again find themselves in a role they feel comfortable in.

The Riders enter Sunday’s West final in Winnipeg as the underdog against the Bombers — who finished a CFL-best 11-3 with first place in the division clinched on Oct. 23.

The Bombers are coming into the game scoring a CFL leading 25.8 points per game while giving up the fewest points per game in the league at 13.4.

Meanwhile, The Riders offence has only managed 20.7 points per game, which is third-fewest in the CFL, while Saskatchewan’s defence has given up 20.3 points against a game, which is fourth-fewest in the league. Despite struggles through the year and a bevy of injuries, the Riders finished the season tied for the second-best record in the league at 9-5.

“We’ve been an underdog all year for some reason. We might have the most wins as an underdog ever. It seems even when we were rolling, people always had something to say about us, and here we are in the West final,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said.

For Fajardo, he says he’s been an underdog his entire life.

“We won the state championship and I had zero division-one scholarship offers and to this day, people don’t understand why I had no offers. I get to college at a smaller school like Nevada where you play a bunch of bigger teams – the Boise States of the worlds, the (California Golden Bears), the Fresno States – where you are the underdog and then you get to the CFL and wait six years for the opportunity to start your first game,” Fajardo said. “There are so many things in my life that have prepared me for this moment to be the underdog and, quite frankly, I like the underdog role and I feel most comfortable there because I’ve done it my entire life.”

Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson is relishing the team’s underdog role going into Sunday’s West Division final against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (Britton Gray/980 CJME)

Head coach Craig Dickenson said there is a benefit to embracing the role of the underdog.

“You don’t have as much pressure on yourself. People aren’t sure if you’re expected to win and maybe they don’t expect you to be close in the ball game,” Dickenson said. “You’ve still got to play good enough to win. I’ve been on teams where we’ve been heavy favourites and the guys felt pressure and played well and I’ve been on teams where we’ve been the underdog and hadn’t felt that pressure and played well and ended up winning too. I’ve also been on the opposite.”

The Bombers won both games against the Roughriders in the regular season by a combined 56-17 score and didn’t give up a second-half point to the Riders in either game.

Fajardo is coming off a four-interception performance, but he did lead a key drive in the Riders 33-30 win over the Calgary Stampeders.

He feels the Riders will need to be at their best to overcome the challenge that awaits them in Winnipeg.

“They are the best team in the league for a reason and we have to be able to finish in the red zone – not kicking field goals, we’ve got to score touchdowns. We can’t turn the ball over because they definitely will take advantage of that,” Fajardo said. “More importantly, we’ve got to execute our game plan and push through when adversity hits.

“That’s something this team has done all year and I’m really proud about this team and the way we’ve handled a lot of adversity we’ve handled all year. It’s been all class.”

While the Riders come in looking for an upset, Fajardo said their goal has always remained the same.

“The expectation is to win a Grey Cup,” Fajardo said. “We have to go through the best team in the CFL to do it and that will just make things a little bit sweeter knowing that you had the opportunity to beat a team that beat you twice earlier in the year.”

Kickoff for the game is set for 3 p.m.

Notes: Linebacker Micah Teitz (foot) is not playing in the game on Sunday. Slotback Duke Williams (toe) is a game-time decision and defensive end A.C. Leonard (hip) will play.