Wiebe welcomes May 23 CFL pre-season game in Saskatoon

Nick Wiebe will celebrate two special teams on May 23.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Special Teams Player for 2025 looks forward to playing in a CFL pre-season game at the home of his alma mater, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, next month in Saskatoon.

“The buzz around Griffiths Stadium when there’s a Huskies game there is pretty palpable,” Wiebe said. “Throw in the fact that it’s a professional game — and it’s the province’s team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders — and I think it’s going to be an absolutely insane crowd. I think the buzz is going to be awesome.

“I’m just excited that people from that part of the province get a game in their backyard. It’s going to be really cool for them.”

What would constitute an “absolutely insane” crowd?

“I think it’ll be similar to the Homecoming Game,” Wiebe responded. “The Huskies sell it out every year.

“They do the (Co-op Family) Rally Alley and the whole deal with the beer gardens and everything, so I’m sure they’ll pull out all that stuff again for the Riders.

“There might be even a little bit more of a ruckus, with the nature of Rider fans. It’s a very committed fan base, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s even a little bit more electric than the Homecoming environment.”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who will provide the opposition on May 23, previously faced the Roughriders in pre-season action at Saskatoon’s Gordie Howe Bowl in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. Now the U of S is preparing to play host to its first CFL pre-season contest.

Training camp (which begins May 10) and the pre-season game will also represent a homecoming for Wiebe, even though he does not hail from Saskatoon.

Originally from Okotoks, Alta., Wiebe played two seasons of high school football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., before joining the University of Oregon Ducks as a walk-on and eventually earning a scholarship. He was the Ducks’ Special Teams Player of the Year in 2020.

With the objective of playing closer to home, Wiebe returned to Canada and joined the Huskies in 2021. He loves the fact that the Roughriders are based at the Huskies’ facilities and the U of S dorms every day.

“I enjoy the familiarity of being in a place I credit with helping me grow up,” reflected Wiebe, 26. “There’s just the sense of being around a place where it feels like home.

“At camp, I feel like it’s an advantage that I get to be in a place where I feel so comfortable in kind of an uncomfortable environment.

“I mean, camp’s not meant to be comfortable. It’s meant to be hard. It’s meant to get you ready for 18 games of football, so having that comfort with respect to the location, I think it’s a really cool advantage for all the U of S guys who have the privilege to play for the Riders.”

Although the Roughriders will not make a pre-season appearance at Mosaic Stadium this year, there is still the guarantee of at least 10 games at the facility.

The standard slate typically consists of nine regular-season games and one pre-season contest.

This year, the Green and White will enjoy the comforts at home for 10 regular-season games — including one for which the Roughriders will be designated as the visiting team.

The Toronto Argonauts will be the “home” side when they oppose the Roughriders on June 26 in Regina. The change of venue results from BMO Field, the Argonauts’ accustomed home facility, staging World Cup soccer matches.

Factor in the May 23 matchup with Winnipeg and the Roughriders are assured of 11 games before friendly audiences in 2026.

Tickets for the Saskatoon-based game go on sale to the general public on Tuesday.