Riders raring to go in first of three-game stretch against Stamps

The deck seems stacked in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ favour heading into their eighth game of the 2021 CFL regular season.

The Roughriders are set to take on the 2-5 Calgary Stampeders on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium. The Green and White’s record is the exact opposite of Calgary’s: five wins and two losses.

Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo has had a solid season, while Stamps QB Bo Levi Mitchell has struggled through injury and sub-standard performances.

On top of that, Saskatchewan is getting defensive end A.C. Leonard back from suspension, while Stamps receivers Josh Huff and Kamar Jorden are both out.

However, Riders head coach Craig Dickenson doesn’t want to underestimate Calgary’s ability to throw the stone.

“Calgary’s 14-and-2 coming off a bye; that’s not an accident,” he said.

“This team has struggled initially, but they’re well-coached. It’s a well-oiled machine out there. They play well at home. They look a lot better in recent games than they did early. I don’t think our guys are going to take them lightly at all.”

“I’d be surprised if it’s not 50/50 in terms of picking who’s going to win the game. I think it’s going to be a battle. I think it’s going to go down to the wire.”

Fajardo shares his coach’s philosophy. He believes the Stamps are much more dangerous than they appear to be on paper.

“They just had a couple of bad-luck things that didn’t go their way. We know that, and I’ve tried to stress that to the offence,” he said.

“We’re treating it just like it was against B.C. It is the next opponent. We want to continue to climb in the standings.”

The scheduling of the game is also a bit of a concern.

The clash in Calgary is the first of three straight matchups between the Riders and Stamps.

Fajardo said that could present a huge opportunity for Calgary, if he and the Roughriders aren’t careful.

“They’re 2-and-5 at the time, so (if) they sweep the series and now they’re looking at 5-5 and we’re 5-5 as well, and they’re right back in the hunt,” Fajardo said. “That’s the danger of when you play a team three times, that there could be a big swing like that.”

So, just how will the Roughriders go about making sure that doesn’t happen?

“Sometimes, when you play the same team multiple times, it gets a little redundant. You have to just go execute your game plan. Try not to overthink things, knowing that you’re going to play them week after week,” Fajardo said.

He’s also looking forward to playing in McMahon Stadium, where many Rider fans typically tend to make the drive out west.

“I like to rely on the crowd,” Fajardo said. “Sometimes when I throw and get hit, I rely on the crowd noise to understand what happened in the play — if it was a pick, if it was a catch (or an) incompletion.”

“It’s very cool when you have passionate fans that show up to away games and there’s crowd noise when (the opponents’) offence is on the field, not just when your offence is on the field.”

A win against Calgary would also complete an interesting checklist for Fajardo: Throughout his career, he has won a game against every team except the Stamps.

Game time is at 5 p.m.