Photo courtesy: CFL/Matt Smith.
Just when it looked like the Saskatchewan Roughriders were poised to lose yet another division final and remain one of the CFL’s most cursed teams, they found a way to pull Saturday’s game out of the fire and earn a berth in the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg.
Down four points with just over a minute to play, Trevor Harris led his team on what felt like an improbable 76-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Tommy Nield, a name that will now live in Riders infamy forever.
Saskatchewan’s 24-21 win over the B.C. Lions was hardly a masterpiece — in all honesty, the Riders probably could have and should have lost the game. However, that’s Roughrider football — things rarely go according to plan, which can drive fans crazy, but it also means Riderville is never dull.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders West Final win.
The Good
The Riders didn’t have much to hang their hat on in this game. Their best player was running back A.J. Ouellette, who rushed 17 times for 113 yards, but even he had an inopportune fumble when he got a little greedy on his second hurdle attempt of the game in the third quarter.
The best part of this matchup for the Riders was their mental toughness. It wasn’t their night in just about any aspect of the game but they battled to the end and found a way.
It was a particularly difficult night for quarterback Trevor Harris, who found himself momentarily staring down another year without a trip to the Grey Cup. He then pulled off the elusive game-winning drive that he’s been looking for since he came to the CFL.
I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to suggest that Harris needed that drive to change the narrative of his career. The big one has always eluded him. He’s not the Nathan Rourke-type who has all the tools to put a team on his back and win a game by himself. Harris needs everything to line up for him and on his team’s final drive it finally did, all these years later.
As always, at the end of the night Harris’ numbers look good on paper. He went 26-for-38 for 305 yards and two touchdowns, but if the Riders don’t come away with a major on their final possession, it’s just another big loss on Harris’ resumé.
This team has been through the wringer time and time again, and on this night it paid off as they were able to pull it off one more time.
The Bad
Frankly, there’s a lot of bad to go around in this game.
Even though the defence held a supercharged Lions offence to 21 points, it should have been fewer points considering how many second-and-longs the Lions converted. Many of them came as Rourke faced only a three-man rush, which gave him all of the time in the world. There was also a huge bust on Keon Hatcher’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
The offence was ineffective most of the night, the receivers had a serious case of the drops, and offensive coordinator Marc Mueller still should have used his best player more.
With that said, the worst mistake of the game came late in the fourth quarter from head coach Corey Mace when he opted to kick a 12-yard field goal to make a one-possession game a, well, one-possession game.
I know, I know — the Riders ended up winning thanks in part to those three points, but it was a huge risk to let Rourke get back on to the field with improved field position.
To the defence’s credit, they stepped up big and made not one but two stops to get the ball back for the offence.
The ironic part is Saskatchewan’s only other touchdown of the game came on a third-down at B.C.’s three-yard line in the third quarter.
Sometimes good decisions don’t work out and sometimes bad ones do — and it was the latter for the Riders in this case.
The Dumb
Have you ever experienced a weird case of déjà vu? The Riders sure did in this game.
You might remember early last season when these two teams played at Mosaic Stadium when A.J. Allen snagged an interception after it bounced off a Lions receiver, then a teammate inadvertently kicked it up in the air?
On Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium, it basically happened again. This time it was Marcus Sayles who was the beneficiary of the circus act.
It was three times at least.
— JM =^) (@jm539581.bsky.social) November 8, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Not only was this the weirdest play of the game, it was also a big one for the Green and White as the Lions were threatening to score following the Ouellette fumble, which had occurred a few plays prior.
It goes to show as important as skill and coaching are in football, so is luck.