Riders’ Moore rounding into form ahead of second game back

Kyran Moore is back in his happy place.

The 25-year-old slotback returned to the field last week in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 23-16 win over the B.C. Lions, playing in a CFL game for the first time in nearly a year. Moore suffered a torn ACL against the Montreal Alouettes on Oct. 30 of last year.

“From all the grinding in the off-season just to get back to the point I am today, it feels unreal to be back out here,” Moore said Friday as Saskatchewan prepared to host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic.

Kickoff for the game at Mosaic Stadium is set for 4 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 2 p.m.

It was the first time in his life that Moore had dealt with an injury that severe. While it took a lot of hard work, Moore said his support system helped him get through it.

“(It came) from my mom and my dad to my girl and my baby girl,” Moore said. “When the tough days get there, just going home and seeing my little girl, it just made everything like, ‘This is what you’re doing it for. You have to keep going.’ ”

Moore will look to have an even better offensive output in his second game back after catching three passes for 35 yards against the Lions but also having a pair of drops.

“The first pass that came to me was an incompletion,” Moore said. “That was my rust working off. Coming back and being out here for the second week of practice and heading into the game, I feel like myself again.

“Tearing my ACL and it being a nine-month process, (it’s all about) just learning how to run again and get the rhythm of running routes. But it’s like riding a bike. Once you start doing it, you’re right there.”

Moore isn’t the only returnee to the Riders’ offence who will be expected to provide a spark as Saskatchewan makes a late-season push.

Wide receiver Shaq Evans (ankle) is on track to play this week, and slotback Brayden Lenius is also expected to rotate in after rejoining the team. Lenius missed the first 11 games of the 2022 season while trying his luck in the NFL.

All three will look to help the Riders get a Labour Day Classic win, something they’ve done in 14 of the last 16 meetings between the teams.

“(Labour Day) is really special, just the fact we’ve had to wait this long to play Winnipeg,” said Moore, whose team hasn’t played the Bombers since the 2021 West Division final. “From Labour Day to the past few times we’ve played them, playing Winnipeg just does something to us.

“You know what they say: Anything that’s good, you’ve got to wait for it.”