KAYLE NEIS/REGINA LEADER-POST.
Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris (7) throws the ball during the first half of CFL regular season action inside Mosaic Stadium on Friday, July 25, 2025 in Regina.
Taylor Shire, Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders sit atop the CFL standings.
With a 21-18 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium in Week 8 of the CFL season, the Roughriders improved to 6-1 while the Elks dropped to 1-5. Saskatchewan leapfrogged the Calgary Stampeders (5-2), who lost to the Montreal Alouettes (5-2) on Thursday, to take over the division lead.
After a slow start to the game in front of an announced attendance of 27,933, the Riders took an 11-4 lead into halftime before Saskatchewan built up a 21-4 lead through three quarters.
Saskatchewan was then shutout in the fourth quarter while Edmonton scored 14 points in the final 15 minutes to make it a one-score game late before the Roughriders’ defence closed out the victory with a pair of sacks on the final drive.
“Our defence kind of stood on their head for us,” said Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris. “We could have made it a lot easier for them and extended that lead.
“But unfortunately, we were not able to do that. And our defence stepped up for us toward the end.
“But that being said, let’s not get spoiled here — 6-1 at this point in the season, if you would have said after seven games, you’re 6-1, do you take it? You’re darn right. We’re 6-1 and we’re finding ways to win.” While Saskatchewan’s defence was a big reason for the victory with eight total sacks, Harris said it’s up to the offence to not let the score get as close as it did.
While Saskatchewan’s defence was a big reason for the victory with eight total sacks, Harris said it’s up to the offence to not let the score get as close as it did.
“There’s obviously some positive things to take away, but I’m sure you guys could probably guess that I’m not happy with the way that we finished the game offensively,” said Harris. “If you want to be a championship-calibre team, you’ve got to put the nail in the coffin.
“And we didn’t do that. We’ve done that in points this year, and we really played strong late in games this year. Today was not that. But there’s obviously some positive things.”
Harris went 25-of-33 for 268 yards and two touchdowns, while stretching his CFL record of consecutive starts with a completion percentage over 70 per cent to 10 games.
Samuel Emilus led all receivers with 113 yards and a touchdown while KeeSean Johnson also found the end zone in the victory. Running back A.J. Ouellette had 62 yards on 15 carries.
On the other side, the Roughriders defence made life tough for Elks’ quarterback Cody Fajardo, who made his first start against his former team after being with the club from 2019-22.
Fajardo was sacked eight times and was pressured several more times in the first meeting of the season between the two teams, who will meet again in Week 17.
“Having Cody back there, he’s kind of similar to Trevor, in a sense that he usually gets the ball out pretty quick,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. “And I think the score kind of dictated that early for us, for him to sit back there a little bit.
“And we try to take away some things for him that we know that he likes to look at, which allowed, obviously a little bit of time for the D-line to go get it.
“As a play caller, when you can just send four and cover down, that’s a good place to be.
“I thought that the pressure was just phenomenal all night from the front seven.”
Fajardo placed much of the blame on himself for not releasing the ball sooner.
“The Riders have one of the best defensive lines in this league,” said Fajardo, who threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns. “You see them on paper, they’ve got guys who have played a lot of football games.
“But I was really proud of the way our offensive line fought tonight. A lot of those sacks are on me.
“Some (run-pass option) stuff where I pulled the ball and it’s a run or pass option but I held onto the ball too long.
“A lot of those sacks are on me. I’m going to take that and I’m going to be better for those guys.”
Defensive linemen Micah Johnson, Malik Carney and Shane Ray each had two sacks for the Riders while linebackers A.J. Allen and C.J. Reavis each had one. Halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. had a team-high seven defensive tackles and a knockdown.
“I’m super proud of how we’ve been rushing all year so just to finally come together like that, I’m happy for the guys,” said Johnson. “Just the scheme we were running and everybody just doing the job.”
While the Riders sacked Fajardo eight times, they also limited Edmonton to just 25 total rushing yards, with Fajardo registering 20 of those yards. Edmonton’s starting running back Justin Rankin ended the night with zero yards on three carries while backup running back Javon Leake had five yards on two carries.
“I think all week, we were just talking about everybody just doing the job, man,” said Johnson, “I think it really showed that we could be a great defence.
“We take pride in stopping the run — that’s first and foremost. That’s our bread and butter. So for us, it was super important to come out and stop the run, and we hang our hat on that. And we think we’re the best rush defence in the league.”
For Carney, it was his second two-sack performance of the year after also registering a pair of takedowns in Saskatchewan’s Week 1 victory against Ottawa.
“Just being relentless in our rush,” said Carney, who is second in the CFL with 25 quarterback pressures this year. “Playing together, playing complementary football, just getting after the quarterback, just staying to our game plan.
“A lot of studying, looking at their tendencies, formations, packages that they like, and just preparing. Coaches had a great game plan for us, and we just executed to the best of our ability.
“That’s what we’ve been looking for all season. Now we’ve got to build on it. We got a tough opponent coming up this next week and just continue to be who we are.”
Next week, the Roughriders are set to visit the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 2. The Alouettes (5-2) are coming off a 23-21 win over Calgary on Thursday.
Fajardo’s return
After playing in Saskatchewan from 2019-22, Fajardo joined the Montreal Alouettes for two seasons before heading to Edmonton this year.
However, Friday’s game was the first time he’s started against his former team as he was injured when the teams met in 2023 and 2024.
The 33-year-old, who was a fan favourite during his time in green and white, appreciated the reception he got in his return, but wishes he could have played better.
“I knew I was going to get some boos but I did see some Fajardo jerseys in the stands so that made me feel good,” said Fajardo. “I will say the Bring ‘Em Out gave me a little bit of chills up my spine because I remember running out to that music and that theme song.
“I was fun to get my first start against those guys. That’s a good football team. But I’ve got to be better for this team if we want to win games.”
Killer instinct
Much of the talk postgame was about Saskatchewan’s killer instinct and the inability to put teams away in the fourth quarter of games.
While the Riders are 6-1 on the year, that’s something they want to focus on moving forward.
“We have it,” said Harris. “It’s just a matter of us manifesting. It’s here. It’s not something I worry about. It’s about us just making sure we look in the mirror.”
“They did a good job of taking us out of rhythm and we weren’t able to punch back. And you know, it’s unfortunate, but I don’t think it’s something that we need to develop or grow. We have it.”
“I thought there was a time for us to kind of put it away,” added Mace. “We talk aggressively about things that we want to get done, so we’re missing it somewhere as of right now, but man, we’re still getting kills.”
“We have to finish,” said Johnson. “That’s kind of the word probably for us for the rest of the year.
“We come out hot but just for some reason, individually or together, we just kind of take our foot off the gas.
“I think we’ve all got to look in the mirror and we’ve really got to fix that, because later on in the season, when you’re playing against the best teams, that could definitely come back to haunt you.”
Injury update
The Roughriders lost linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. and defensive end Lake Korte-Moore to injuries during separate special teams plays in the second half.
Emilus also went down with a lower-body injury in the fourth quarter before limping off under his own power. There was no update on any of the injuries immediately after the game.
Scoring summary
On Saskatchewan’s first offensive possession, Harris hit Emilus for a 16-yard gain as part of a five-play, 24-yard drive before Brett Lauther came in for a 47-yard field goal attempt.
However, the kick was wide right and went through the back of the end zone as Saskatchewan came away with a rouge to go up 1-0.
Edmonton tied the game up 1-1 on their next drive with a punt single.
After a punt by Saskatchewan, Fajardo hit receiver Zach Mathis, who was injured on the play, for a 35-yard gain before kicker Vincent Blanchard gave Edmonton a 4-1 lead with a 15-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, on Saskatchewan’s fourth drive of the game, Harris found Emilus for a 43-yard gain before the Riders got down to Edmonton’s two-yard line.
After two unsuccessful attempts to punch it in, the Riders elected to gamble on third down and short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens was stopped, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Following a defensive stop by Saskatchewan, highlighted by an 18-yard sack on Fajardo by Allen, Saskatchewan’s offence got the ball back and after Harris hit Johnson for back-to-back first downs, two Edmonton pass interference penalties put the ball at the 15-yard line.
From there, Emilus took a sweep pass from Harris and rumbled into the end zone to put Saskatchewan up 8-4.
Before the first half was up, the Roughriders tacked on three more points to go up 11-4 as Lauther nailed a 51-yard field goal.
In the second half, the Roughriders added to their lead.
After a 34-yard pass to Emilus which put him over 100 in the game, Harris hit Dohnte Meyers for a 30-yard gain.
Two plays later, Harris hit Johnson in the end zone for the eight-yard touchdown to put the Riders up 18-4 with the convert.
Near the end of the third quarter, after a 42-yard punt return by Drae McCray, Lauther nailed a 46-yard field goal to put Saskatchewan up 21-4.
In the fourth quarter, the Elks cut into the lead as Fajardo spun out of the pocket and found an open Kaion Julien-Grant, who spun away from a defender before scoring on a 57-yard touchdown to make it 21-11.
Saskatchewan’s defence forced Edmonton into punts on their next two drives before the Elks made it 21-18 as Fajardo hit Steven Dunbar Jr. on a 13-yard touchdown strike with 1:56 left.
While Edmonton got the ball back in the final minute, Saskatchewan’s defence was able to close out the game with sacks on the final two plays to secure the victory.
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