In November of 2023, Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris established this benchmark: “Our fan base is the best in the league, so we need our product to match our fan base.”
In November of 2025 — on the 8th, to be precise — the Roughriders will play host to the CFL’s Western Final, having secured the league’s best record by defeating the Toronto Argonauts 27-19 on Friday before 27,500 generally jubilant spectators at Mosaic Stadium.
“I hope it becomes an expectation here,” Harris said after Saskatchewan improved its record to 12-4. “That’s what you kind of aim for.
“When I signed here and came here in ’23, I was hoping we could get to the point where the expectation is to get the West Final here.
“Obviously, you never want fans to get super spoiled where they kind of get after you for little things, but this fan base is really, really good and they do a tremendous job of holding us accountable — and I like that, because we’re pro football players and we hold ourselves accountable.
“The beautiful facility here, the amazing people in this city, they deserve to have a winning football team, so you want that to be the expectation.”
It became the reality in 2024, when the Roughriders rebounded from back-to-back 6-12 seasons by going 9-8-1 under first-year Head Coach Corey Mace, earning a home playoff game and advancing to the division final.
The objective now is to take the final few steps, the internal expectations having been articulated by Harris when he declared earlier this year that the Roughriders were “on the clock.”
Fifty-four seconds remained on the clock when A.J. Allen intercepted Jarret Doege to extinguish the Argonauts’ final realistic hope.
“I’ve been here when it was 6-and-12 and we had some dark days, so it means everything to see this team on the rise and working together and playing like this for each other,” said Allen, a fourth-year Roughrider.
“It means everything.”
Following Allen’s third pick of the season, all that remained was for Harris to perform two obligatory kneeldowns before Jesse Mirco unloaded a 55-yard punt on the final play.
Janarion Grant fielded the punt four yards deep in his end zone and carried the ball 19 yards before being forced out of bounds by Thomas Bertrand-Hudon at 10:04 p.m.
At that moment, the Roughriders clinched top spot in the West for the ninth time in franchise history. The feat was previously accomplished in 1951, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1976, 2009 and 2019.
Saskatchewan also claimed the CFL’s regular-season pennant for the fifth time, having previously finished first overall in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1976.
Not since 1970, when the Roughriders went 14-2, has the team sported a superior record at the 16-game mark.
“Coming in my rookie year, we struggled a little bit, so it feels sweet to finally be able to claim first place in the West,” Samuel Emilus, a Roughrider since 2022, said after his six-catch, 142-yard gem.
Brett Lauther is one of a handful of Roughriders who could attest to the feeling of earning first place in green and white.
Lauther kicked the go-ahead field goal with 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter on Nov. 2, 2019, when Saskatchewan defeated the visitors from Edmonton 23-13 to nail down the No. 1 spot for the first time in a decade.
The seventh-year Roughriders kicker was also a factor on Friday, hitting all five of his field-goal attempts and accounting for 15 of the Roughriders’ 27 points.
“One of the biggest advantages in sports, I think, is coming first in your division in the CFL,” Lauther said. “You’re one home win away from the Grey Cup.
“This was one of our goals at the start of the year and it’s just another check off the list, but we haven’t really done or accomplished anything yet.”
With that in mind, Mace eschewed a Gatorade shower at game’s end.
“For what? I don’t know,” he said. “It’s still the regular season. We’ve still got a couple of more games.
“They did that after the first win, naturally, last year. They did it after a playoff (win) or something. It’s not my thing.”
Unlike a Grey Cup ring, which Mace has earned as a player (with the Calgary Stampeders in 2014), a defensive line coach (Calgary, 2018) and a defensive co-ordinator (Toronto, 2022).
Mace has also been a part of eight teams that have finished atop the CFL’s overall standings since entering the league as a player in 2010.
“Being in similar situations in the past, there’s definitely lots of meaningful football left — obviously, the games that we have remaining (in the regular season),” Mace said.
“With how we attack practice each week, there’s obviously a lot of stuff for us to work on and a lot of meaningful football. However we cook that up, be it through a week of practice and/or the game, it’s all going to be geared toward getting us to where we need to get to come the West Final.”
The Roughriders’ two remaining regular-season games are slated for next Friday against the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Oct. 25 against the visiting B.C. Lions.
Saskatchewan has the option of being able to rest some starters while allowing others to recuperate from injuries.
Defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. (knee/foot), receiver Dohnte Meyers (ankle), cornerback Tevaughn Campbell (head) and short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens (knee) were among the players who sat out Friday’s contest due to injuries.
As well, receiver KeeSean Johnson — like Meyers, a 1,000-yard producer this season — left Friday’s game in the early in the second quarter and did not return.
Cornerback Marcus Sayles, who has battled a knee injury in recent weeks, gutted his way through another game.
“For us at this point, it’s about getting healthy,” Harris said. “It’s four weeks from (Saturday) that we play in the West Final. By that time, hopefully we can get some guys back who are dinged up and let some guys rest who kind of need it.”
Asked whether the starting quarterback is one of the players who should be rested by Coach Mace, Harris joked with reporters: “I’ll fight him. You guys tell him I said that.”
Harris was 23-for-29 for 340 yards and two touchdowns on Friday, when he sported a quarterback-efficiency rating of 140.0.
A superlative showing by Emilus was complemented by fellow receivers Joe Robustelli (five catches for 75 yards), Kian Schaffer-Baker (five for 68) and Tommy Nield (three for 39 and one TD).
A.J. Ouellette (15 carries for 69 yards) and Bertrand-Hudon (four for 32) churned out tough yards along the ground. So did short-yardage quarterback Jack Coan, who barged ahead for two first downs on third-down gambles.
Allen had a team-high seven defensive tackles and the Roughriders’ only sack to accompany his interception. Linebacking cohort Jameer Thurman added six tackles and a pass knockdown.
Saskatchewan scored on its opening possession for the second consecutive game, moving 70 yards in four plays.
A 50-yard pass-and-run from Harris to Emilus put the Riders in position for a 12-yard touchdown reception by Robustelli.
Saskatchewan also got three first-half field goals from Lauther, who connected from 44, 37 and 37 yards.
Over the first 30 minutes, Toronto registered two field goals — including a 54-yarder — from Lirim Hajrullahu and a 74-yard punt single from Sean Haggerty.
Trailing 15-7 at halftime, the Argonauts narrowed the gap to 15-13 when Doege threw a 30-yard TD pass to Dejon Brissett one play after a Roughriders fumble.
Saskatchewan roared back with a six-play, 72-yard TD drive that culminated in a 13-yard scoring strike from Harris to Nield.
Hajrullahu’s 38-yard field goal, at 11:14 of the third quarter, made it 21-16, Saskatchewan.
Lauther’s 22-yard field goal on the opening play of the fourth quarter restored the Roughriders’ eight-point lead.
Hajrullahu countered with another three-pointer, from 41 yards, at 3:01 of the fourth quarter.
Toronto was in a second-and-three situation on the Roughriders’ 25-yard line before throwing back-to-back incompletions, the second of which hit the turf and forced a turnover on downs with 4:22 left in the game.
Saskatchewan responded immediately with a 44-yard bomb to Emilus, who made a leaping catch on the Argonauts’ 41-yard line.
That was the first of three first downs on that possession, which was punctuated by Lauther’s fifth field goal — a 22-yarder with 1:06 left in the fourth quarter.
On the second play of the Argonauts’ final possession, Allen effectively settled matters with his interception.
The Roughriders are to return to action next Friday against the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
EXTRA POINTS
• Nield’s touchdown catch was at the expense of his former team. The 26-year-old slotback was with Toronto from 2021 to 2024. He has five TDs in 12 games with the Roughriders after scoring twice in 41 appearances with Toronto.
• Harris exceeded 300 passing yards for the third consecutive game and the sixth time this season. With 49 touchdown passes as a Roughrider, he moved past Cody Fajardo into eighth in team history.
• The Roughriders have posted a 27-19 victory in each of their past two first-place seasons. On Oct. 18, 2019, Saskatchewan won 27-19 in B.C. Lauther was 4-for-4 in that game, the longest kick being a 52-yarder.
• The linebacking corps has accounted for all the Roughriders’ interceptions over the past two games. Allen has two of the picks. Thurman and Antoine Brooks Jr. have the others.
• Ouellette leads the CFL in carries (237) and rushing yards (1,179).
• Saskatchewan allowed 30 rushing yards — the 39th-lowest regular-season total in franchise history.
• Mario Alford is 100 yards shy of tying the Roughriders’ career record for kickoff return yards (Corey Holmes, 4,077).
• Toronto did not move the chains on four of their six plays on which two or fewer yards were required for a first down. On the season, the Roughriders have converted 89.2 per cent of those situations. The opposition: 81.3 per cent.
• The Roughriders reached 12 wins for the ninth time in franchise history. The team record of 14 was set in 1970.
• Jayden Dalke led the Roughriders in special teams tackles, with two.