WINNIPEG — Will the Saskatchewan Roughriders win Grey Cup No. 5 in ’25?
And what type of bedlam will ensue if they do?
We will know later today, following a CFL championship game that will feature the Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes at Princess Auto Stadium.
“If we do it, man, I don’t know the street we’re going to go down, but I would love to see Albert Street, Broad Street or Saskatchewan Drive,” Roughriders offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick mused.
“I don’t know where y’all do it, but it would be amazing if any of those streets could get crowded with people with the green and white on, or with no shirts on.
“The ultimate goal there, it gives me chills just thinking about it, but we’ve got to win the game.”
Such an outcome would give Saskatchewan its fifth Grey Cup, following the championship seasons of 1966, 1989, 2007 and 2013.
“Take advantage of this moment,” said Hardrick, who celebrated Grey Cup wins with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021. “I know guys who have been in the league 12 years and have never been to the show.
“So now that we’re here, what are we going to do? Don’t get caught up in being here. Let’s go win it.”
That was also the message from Trevor Harris, who quarterbacked Saskatchewan to a 24-21, come-from-behind victory over the visiting B.C. Lions in the Western Final on Nov. 9.
“This is what we planned on,” he said, “but this isn’t everything we wanted it to be.”
At this point, however, most of the boxes have been checked. All but one.
The Roughriders (12-6) posted the CFL’s best record for the first time since 1976 — and only the fifth time, period.
First place in the division was secured on Nov. 10, nearly a month before the Western Final.
Nine members of the team made the All-CFL team. The previous Club record of seven was set in 1967.
Individual accolades continued to roll in when Hardrick was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman. Also on Thursday, centre Logan Ferland received the Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Award.
To be determined: Coach of the Year, which will be announced at the 2026 CFL Combine.
Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas are the finalists for the second year in a row.
Throughout the season, Mace has espoused and ingrained his philosophy: “We want to go 1-and-0 this week.”
That is the only option today, because there isn’t a next week — not on the CFL schedule, anyway.
“It comes down to who adjusts the best,” Hardrick said. “You just handle it that way.
“But we’ve got a great leader. Mace lays the plan out. We talk about going 1-and-0.
“He gives us clear messages of when we can lift, when we’re not going to be able to lift, and we’ve got good leaders on the team.”
Many of them arrived in Saskatchewan with a Grey Cup pedigree. The Roughriders have under contract 15 players who have won at least one championship with another CFL team.
Six of the Riders’ coaches, Mace included, own at least one Grey Cup ring.
Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day has helped Saskatchewan win a Cup as a player (2007) and Assistant GM (2013). He also hoisted the trophy as a rookie offensive lineman with the Toronto Argonauts in 1997.
Assistant GMs Kyle Carson and Paul Jones also have seven Grey Cup rings between them.
Others, like veteran kicker Brett Lauther, are hoping to be part of a CFL titleist for the first time. But he has purposely avoided trying to envision what a Cup celebration would be like.
“I’m not trying to look ahead of the game,” Lauther said. “After the game, if that happens, naturally it’s going to be a lot of fun. But until those 60 minutes are done and Saskatchewan wins the football game, that’s all we’re worried about.
“You hear stories from 2007 and 2013, being teammates with guys like Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg and people who have been out here and done it.
“You know what it potentially could be but, at the end of the day, we didn’t come here just to make the Grey Cup. We came here to win the Grey Cup.”
WHAT WILL BE THE DIFFERENCE?
“Execution,” Harris replied. “I feel like we’re looking at a mirror image of ourselves in Montreal — in terms of toughness, in terms of never giving up. There’s the scrappy mentality and the way they’re built and the belief.
“I think it’s just going to be a matter of who’s going to make the big play at the big moment when that big moment happens. Are we going to be able to respond to adversity better than they are? It’s really about those things.
“I think it’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out physical game and it’s going to be about hanging in there, regardless of what happens. But I do like our team and I think they do, too.
“Going into this game, it’s going to be a heavyweight fight.”
HOW DO YOU HARNESS HARRIS?
“Well, it’s difficult,” Maas said. “It’s a challenge. He’s seen it all. There’s not too many things that man hasn’t seen. He’s super experienced and he gets rid of the ball and he diagnoses things rather quickly.
“It’s the same old thing you talk about with experienced quarterbacks. You’ve got to affect them some way, whether that’s pressuring the pocket, giving them different looks, just slowing him down a little bit.
“You don’t have to slow him down a ton. Just enough to where he maybe hesitates. He’s not going to hesitate too many times, but if you can get him a few times to do it …
“He’s going to get his (completions). He has been doing it for a long time. He’s about as accurate a passer as there is in the league. When the moments come, you’ve got to make it happen.”
SPIRIT OF ’76
The Roughriders are poised to start four American offensive linemen in a Grey Cup Game for the first time since 1976.
Ferland is the lone Canadian on a front five that will also include Hardrick (right tackle), Payton Collins (left tackle), Trevon Tate (left guard) and Jacob Brammer (right guard).
That quintet also helped the Roughriders win the Western Final. Tate was reactivated for the playoffs after missing 14 games with a shoulder injury.
In the 1976 Grey Cup against the Ottawa Rough Riders, the Western Conference champions’ lone starting Canadian offensive lineman was also a Saskatchewan-born centre (Gary Brandt).
Brandt was flanked by Sam Holden (left tackle), Mike Dirks (left guard), Ralph Galloway (right guard) and Joe Miller (right tackle).
FAMILY TRADITION
The Roughriders’ second touchdown in the 1966 Grey Cup was a 19-yard pass from Ron Lancaster to Alan Ford.
That duo also collaborated on a TD, from 28 yards, in the 1969 Grey Cup.
Their grandsons are both members of the 2025 Roughriders. Jaxon Ford is a third-year defensive back with the Green and White. Marc Mueller is completing his second season as Saskatchewan’s Offensive Co-ordinator.
Sunday’s game will be the 11th in Roughriders history that includes a member of the Ford and/or Lancaster families.
Ford played in the 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1972 league finals. He was the Roughriders’ GM when they went to the 1989 and 1997 Grey Cups.
Lancaster and Ford were teammates in four Grey Cups. The Little General also started at quarterback in the 1976 game versus Ottawa.
Ford is the only Roughrider to hit the scoresheet in three different Grey Cups (1966, 1967, 1969). He punted for an 87-yard single in 1967 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Mueller’s father, Larry, is the husband of Lancaster’s daughter, Lana. Larry Mueller was the Roughriders’ Assistant GM when the team won the Cup in 1989.