Trevor Harris cannot stop thinking about the Grey Cup.
The 2026 Grey Cup.
“It’s no longer 2025,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ marquee quarterback said. “It’s time to do it again.
“We’ve got to focus on who we need to become to be that team that does win it again. There’s a lot of teams that win one. There’s not very many that win two in a row.
“But I don’t think you’ll hear a team this year that’s talking about going back-to-back. You’re just going to see a team that’s focused on becoming that team that can accomplish that someday.
“You don’t build a house by putting the shingles on first. You’ve got to build a foundation and make sure everything’s in line and just build it one day at a time. We’re going to keep doing that.
“It’s like Coach Mace said in his first year: ‘Build it.’ So we’re building something special and we’re continuing to build.
“Just because you won a Grey Cup doesn’t mean that the trophy case is full. Let’s turn the page. Let’s go do something even more special.”
Harris treated us all to a special performance in the 112th Grey Cup Game, completing 23 of 27 passes for 302 yards and directing three touchdown drives to help the Corey Mace-coached Saskatchewan side defeat the Montreal Alouettes 25-17 in Winnipeg on Nov. 16.
“I was over the Grey Cup 48 hours after it,” Harris stated. “I was just like, ‘OK, cool. We won. Awesome. Let’s see what new heights we can find as people, as a team, as an organization.’
“I might sound like a Debbie Downer, but the thing that was encouraging through that process was I’m not chasing a trophy. I’m chasing who I can become. I’m not chasing a finish line of a championship.
“I think Coach Mace would say the same thing: ‘We’re chasing just becoming greater.’ I think it’s a constant pursuit of self-mastery.
“That’s the beauty of football. It challenges you mentally, emotionally and physically. It asks you to become something bigger than yourself. I’ve said that before, but I think there’s nothing truer than that.
“It’s not a challenge because you want to win one Grey Cup. It’s not a challenge because you need to acccomplish a certain goal. If that was the case, you’d probably get satisfied after one win.
“We’ve won one Grey Cup, but I feel like we have more. I feel like this organization has more heights.”
SPEAKING OF HEIGHTS …
Harris added a new dimension to his aerial game earlier this week.
He was part of a star-studded Roughriders contingent that boarded a small aircraft and visited two northern communities.
Harris, receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker, offensive lineman Logan Ferland and Gainer the Gopher touched down in La Loche and Buffalo Narrows during what has been a wide-ranging Grey Cup Community Tour for the reigning CFL champions.
“It was really cool to be up there with those guys,” Harris said. “But, to me, the credit goes to our community team.
“They put together the ideas and the things that they want to do, like going up there and spending time with people and putting us in situations where we can meet these people. We would have had no opportunity do that had they not had the wherewithal and awareness to make it happen.
“That’s what makes it the Saskatchewan Roughriders and not the Regina Roughriders. This is a whole province. We’re in this together. It’s cool to be able to meet people from everywhere, whether it be Saskatoon or La Loche or Moose Jaw or Swift Current. We’re kind of everywhere.
“That’s the thing that’s unique about the Saskatchewan Roughriders. We represent the whole province and we’re grateful to do that.”
In collaboration with NexGen Energy Ltd., the Roughriders’ travelling party interacted with students at Dene High School and Clearwater River Dene School, both in La Loche, and at the Buffalo Narrows Friendship Centre.
“It’s kind of like where I’m from,” said Harris, who hails from the village of Waldo, Ohio. “I relate to people who are small-town people. Everybody knows everybody. There’s just a restaurant or two in town. If you go out to eat, you’re going to see the same people.
“You can kind of relate to anybody and everybody who is going through anything in life. That’s what I’m called to do as a follower of Jesus — to love others and understand others and really appreciate one another in this life.
“Life’s too short to go through it and just worry about yourself, so I really like getting out in the community and meeting people.”
Harris had not made such a northerly trek since late June of 2015, when Edmonton played a home game against the Toronto Argonauts in Fort McMurray, Alta. — 200 kilometres west of La Loche.
It was a productive business trip for Harris, who completed 24 of 27 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns to help Toronto win 26-11.
“There’s just not as many people in La Loche,” Harris noted. “There was still tons of snow on the ground. They were basically saying, ‘It’s not summer until you get to June.’
“It was fun to talk to the people about the things that they have and the things that they do up there. The gift-giving is kind of a different thing. They only give gifts if something is really meaningful and sentimental. I’ve always felt the same way. If you give a gift, you give it from the heart.
“I just felt like there were people who have great hearts up there.”
SWIFT THINKING
Harris was in Swift Current on Friday night as part of the Grey Cup Community Tour. He appeared at the Swift Current Broncos’ WHL home game against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Fan Appreciation Night.
The Broncos wore special-edition, Roughriders-themed jerseys on Friday.
The community-owned team’s move from Lethbridge to Swift Current became official on April 11, 1986 — just 50 days before Harris was born.
As Broncos boosters can attest, someone named Trevor is a crucial component of a championship.
Trevor Kruger was the Broncos’ No. 1 goaltender when they won the Memorial Cup in 1989, which was also a championship season for the Green and White.
Oh … one more Trevor tidbit! He will be signing autographs at the Rider Store (Mosaic Stadium outlet) on Sunday afternoon from 2 o’clock to 3:30.
REMEMBERING TOM BROWN
Tom Brown, a 1984 Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee, passed away on March 12 at age 89.
Brown visited Taylor Field for his first CFL game of any description. He was in the lineup for the B.C. Lions when they posted a 13-3 pre-season victory over Saskatchewan on July 30, 1961.
A ferocious tackler, he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Lineman in 1963 and 1964.
Brown was a senior with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1960 when he won the Outland Trophy as the top interior lineman in U.S. college football.
At Minnesota, Brown was a teammate of Bob Deegan, who played in two games with the 1963 Roughriders.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Trevor Harris, Ever Faye Sanden, Steve Johnson, Jeff McWhinney, Dhel Duncan-Busby, Brittany Ludwar, Justine McKinstry, Leila Mohr, Wayne Tunison, Carol Gay Bell, Crystal Bigalky, Auley Whyte, Ivy Kraemer, Cam Pelzer, Evan Bray, Kevin Fenwick, Kevin Gallant, Rylee Cohen, Greg Sowa, Bonnie Sowa, Leevi Sowa, Jaylen Waddle, Allan Kroitor and Logan Lindskog.