‘Not here to talk about Nathan Rourke’: Roughriders focused on themselves in West Final

The CFL on TSN panel takes a closer look at another impressive performance by Roughriders quarterback and MOP favourite Trevor Harris, and breaks down another standout game by Lions QB Nathan Rourke who threw for nearly 400 yards against the Alouettes.

Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback Trevor Harris is done talking about the B.C. Lions quarterback.

“I’m not here to talk about Nathan Rourke,” Harris told media ahead of the Western Division Final Friday. “It’s our time.”

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Championed by Harris, ‘It’s our time’ has been the mantra for the Riders this season.

His belief is this team is primed to take the next step towards the Grey Cup.

“Nathan is an awesome player and we all respect and love him. He’s fun to watch,” he quickly corrected. “But we’re excited about being here in this moment.”

“[I am] preparing for their defense, right. So I understand that mentally,” Rourke responded during his media availability. “This is a really good defense [ahead of me] and that’s what I’m worried about.”

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In a win-or-go-home game Saturday where anything can happen, Harris feels his teammates have what it takes to come up big.

“The moment’s not going to be too big for them,” the quarterback said. “We’ve seen it all year, even in practice. What gives me confidence in those moments is just the guys we have in our room.”

Business as usual

Riders head coach Corey Mace says it is business as usual inside the locker room.

It comes after Saskatchewan lost the 2024 West Division Final on the road in Winnipeg.

“The way we attacked it last year, everybody was giddied up,” Mace told media Wednesday. “A ‘storm the castle’ kind of vibe. We’re just operating business as usual for us, which I think is a good thing.”

Now a year more experienced and closer as a team under their coach’s system, players say they are more comfortable in who they are as a team.

“We still didn’t have the culture that we wanted,” running back A.J. Ouellette said. “We had a good culture, but not the one we wanted. It was just like, ‘Go in there like savages.’ We have a brotherhood that’s been bonded over pretty much two years now. And we know we have each other’s backs.”

“The change is we’re at home,” Jameer Thurman added. “It’s a huge advantage to play a home playoff game in front of your fans, having that routine when you’re playing at home. You’re familiar with the territory you’re going to. Not to say we weren’t familiar with where we were before, but we understand when we play here how much it means – not just to us – but everybody in this province.”

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Although something they have moved on from, Mace says the experience of losing last season can be a good thing.

“If you’re going in and thinking you’re nervous, I don’t think that’s going to work out for you in a physical football game,” the coach said. “But as a team, I just think having that experience for us last year bodes well.”

Two deserving teams

While the Roughriders have earned the right to host the game as the number one seed, the visiting Lions are feeling slighted.

“We deserve to be here as well,” Rourke said. “As much as they deserve to have hosted, we deserve to be here and we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

“When you get an opportunity to go against the best, and you feel like you want to be the best, you got to beat the best,” Lions’ receiver Keon Hatcher added. “We feel like we’re one of the top offenses, the top passing games in the league. So we have to go out there and execute.”

As confident as Saskatchewan is in their team, the Lions are no different.

“I see what motivates them,” head coach Buck Pierce said. “The work they put in together throughout the course of the season, just watching the progression, the evolution of how we’ve came together as a team and the belief they have in each other.”

“We’ve battled adversity and we’ve been able to grow. That’s the thing I’m most proud about,” he added.

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Long drought to end

Regardless of Saturday’s result, one long Grey Cup appearance drought will end.

Saskatchewan has not reached a Grey Cup game since they won it back in 2013. For the Lions, it is even longer, as the franchise has not been to a Grey Cup since 2011 – a game B.C., too, won.

Harris called the drought, ‘a good narrative,’ but is not focused on what has happened in the past.

“I’m not going to be out there going, ‘I haven’t been a Grey Cup in a couple years, I’m going to try harder,” he joked. “I have never been one to try harder in a preseason game versus a regular season game or a playoff game. I’m going to give everything I’ve got, no matter what.”

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Rourke echoed Harris’ sentiments.

“It’s the most important game because it’s the next game,” he said. “This game for us is another opportunity to be with each other for another week.”

Kickoff Saturday is 5:30 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium and on TSN.

The winner will face the winner of the Eastern Division Final between Hamilton and Montreal in the Grey Cup next week in Winnipeg.