The Labour Day Classic, unlike this senescent scribe, never gets old.

The storied tradition is embraced by Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace, who earlier this week showed his players a seven-minute video that was masterfully produced by Blake Tiedeman — the team’s Manager, Content and Creative.

“We showed it out of respect for our fan base,” Mace said leading up to Sunday’s CFL collision with the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“There were some clips of games in black and white, when Rob was in his 30s. The fans were showing up then.

“I just wanted the guys to understand how much this game means to this fan base and ultimately allow them to reflect and have the gratitude that they need to go out there and represent this province in the Battle of the Prairies, so to speak.

“What an opportunity. What an environment. It’s the best one in the country, so it’s pretty cool.”

Mace is an authority on the matter, having been part of all three of the CFL’s long-standing Labour Day weekend rivalry games.

He played and coached with the Calgary Stampeders, who automatically meet the Edmonton Elks at this time of the year. He later coached with the Toronto Argonauts, whose late-summer appointment with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats is also a long-standing event.

“If a kid has never been to a CFL game and they happen to go to their first one on Labour Day, you’re hooked,” Mace said.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re at but, certainly, if you’re here in this rivalry, you’re hooked.”

Like Mace, Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris has been a part of all three Labour Day weekend scheduling staples. He made his on-field debut in the Saskatchewan-Winnipeg game last year.

“I went to a Division II school, so I didn’t really get to be a part of the big rivalry games,” the former Edinboro University Fighting Scots standout, who hails from Waldo, Ohio, said on Saturday.

“I grew up watching Ohio State/Michigan (on TV). You’d watch the Iron Bowl with Auburn and Alabama. Up here, you’ve got the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina.

“You’ve got the big rivalry games where everybody’s talking about the game and everybody’s there and the game is in the air for such a long time.

“Last year, I was driving to the stadium four hours before the game and I saw people walking around wearing green and white jerseys and walking in and out of mom-and-pop shops. Those are the things that you watch in movies and that you kind of long for.

“I grew up wanting to be part of those things and, going to a small school, I didn’t really get that opportunity. So last year, being a part of that and really feeling that game in the air, it brought tears to my eyes.

“I know that tomorrow will be the same thing. I reflect quite a bit and reflect on the things that I’ll miss when I’m done playing. This is absolutely one of them.

“I can feel the emotion of the game, because I think when you grow up, you don’t really envision yourself playing in front of a half-packed crowd.

“It’s the full crowd and, when they’re selling tickets for standing room only, those are the ones you live for.”

THE BUZZ AROUND TOWNES

This has been an eventful week for Brett Lauther, even when you subtract the Labour Day Classic commotion from the equation.

Brett and his wife, Jill, welcomed a baby girl — Townes Mary Ann Lauther — early Wednesday morning at Regina General Hospital.

“Honestly, it just changes everything,” a proud new member of the fathers’ fraternity said on Saturday.

“You don’t think anything’s going to change day to day, but it’s a whole new gratitude for life. It really gives meaning for what’s important in life.

“I’m just thankful for my wife, our families, this organization … everything right now. I’m just really excited to have her here. Everything is going smoothly. My wife’s doing great. The baby’s doing great.

“I’m looking forward to a good game tomorrow.”

Lauther was excused from practice on Wednesday (for obvious reasons) and was a limited participant in Thursday’s session before it was business as usual on Friday.

“It has been a crazy week, but probably the most enjoyable week of my life,” he said. “I’m really excited to get a chance to play tomorrow.”

The looming Labour Day Classic will be Lauther’s seventh.

Two years ago, he tied the team record for field goals in a Classic (five), joining Dave Ridgway (1987) and Sandro DeAngelis (2012).

Lauther has also registered three of the five longest field goals by a Roughrider in the annual event, splitting the uprights from distances of 55 (2024), 54 (2021) and 53 (2023) yards.

He is tied for second with Paul McCallum for all-time field goals by a Roughrider (16) in a Classic. Ridgway heads the list at 39.

And then, of course, there was Lauther’s game-winning field goal on the final play of the 2019 Classic.

“It’s important,” he said of the historic matchup, “but you don’t want to make it bigger than it is because it still counts as just one win.

“But, at the end of the day, some games are a little bit bigger than football.”

FANS COME FIRST

After meeting with the media on Saturday, Harris made a beeline for the Mosaic Stadium concourse to sign autographs as part of Roughrider Fan Day.

“It’s really cool, aside from the fact that we’re missing Ohio State versus Texas right now, which is disheartening,” he said with a laugh.

“This is a community-owned team. The fans own the team. The fact that we get to sit and chat with them, just for a second, or sign an autograph or take a picture, we’re just very, very grateful.

“I ask people when they sign autographs, ‘Do you remember practising your autograph as a kid? Now you get to do this for real.’

“It’s a small scale compared to being a mega-star or an NFL guy, but it’s cool when you get an opportunity where if you say a few words to a kid who’s going through something — like I got the opportunity to do earlier this week — and to be able to have an effect on those people.

“That’s really what you live for. I have a heart for Jesus Christ and that’s really why I am the way I am and why I play the way I play.

“Just because I’m saved, I hope I get to represent Jesus in that way and that I can kind of help other people by having the certain stage that we have, no matter how small or big the platform is.”

CHRONICLING THE CLASSIC

The now-familiar Labour Day Classic term was not widely applicable to the Roughriders versus Blue Bombers, as far as I can tell, until 1988.

However, the label was used on occasion.

Thanks to the wonder that is newspapers.com, we take you back to Sept. 2, 1924, when the pages of the Regina Leader-Post included a story on a (please excuse the exclusion of the “u”) Labor Day Classic automobile race in Altoona, Pa. (Did any of the vehicles require an Al-toon-up?)

An L-P feature from Aug. 29, 1985 focused on the Regina Press Club’s mixed softball tournament — the Labour Day Classic.

At long last, on Sept. 1, 1988, “Labour Day Classic” was a reference to a looming CFL collision of arch-rivals. The term appeared in a team-sponsored advertisement on Page C5 of the L-P.

September of 1989: More ads.

Late August of 1991: Ads, once again.

Ditto for 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 …

“Labour Day Classic” did not appear in an article until Sept. 5, 1998, when Darrell Davis pointed out that “Winnipeg is 0-9 heading into Sunday’s Labour Day Classic.”

MY FIVE FAVOURITE CLASSICS

Selecting the five best Labour Day Classics is akin to choosing the cutest puppy in a litter.

But as my 50th consecutive Classic approaches — see again: OLD — I will valiantly attempt to pare down a lengthy list to something manageable. Ready, set …

(#1) Sept. 2, 2007: Kerry Joseph scored on a 27-yard quarterback draw with six seconds left to give Saskatchewan a 31-26 victory over Winnipeg in what turned out to be a Grey Cup preview. (We won that one, too.)

(#2) Sept. 4, 1983: Ken Clark — the Roughriders’ punter — kicked a go-ahead, 41-yard field goal into the wind with 43 seconds remaining, lifting the locals to a 32-30 win. Clark was thrust into double duty after Ridgway was injured while making a tackle on a kickoff return. Adding to the storybook ending, Clark had just returned to Regina from Toronto, where he was at the bedside of his ailing mother. Veronica Clark passed away shortly after her son made the game-winning kick.

(#3) Sept. 1, 2002: Rocky Butler, who began the season as the Roughriders’ fourth-string quarterback, made a surprise start and ran for three TDs in a 33-19 home-team win.

(#4) Aug. 31, 1986: Joe Paopao threw a last-minute, 56-yard TD bomb to Ray Elgaard to propel Saskatchewan to a 34-30 victory. The Roughriders rebounded from a 23-7 halftime deficit and (gulp) a 56-0 loss in Winnipeg (July 5, 1986).

(#5) Sept. 1, 2019: As referenced earlier, Lauther’s 26-yard field goal on the final play put a 19-17 Roughriders win in the books. Once the football sailed between Mosaic Stadium’s north-side uprights, Lauther and holder Jon Ryan sprinted 100-plus yards and immersed themselves in the Pil Country pandemonium.

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Palmer Capri de Jong, Shiane de Jong, Pete de Jong, Townes Mary Ann Lauther, Brett Lauther, Jill Lauther, Maeve Doreen McLellan, Kristin Maugeri, John Pineiro, Kent Maugeri, Don Steidl, Marge Steidl, Juan Aguirre Salazar, Rebeca Martinez, Itzel Escorsia, Garth Johnson, Carol Gay Bell, Cathy Smith, Wade Hackl, Richard Kies, David Bachynski, Jane Bachynski, Colin Bachynski, Margaret Bachynski, John Mace, Michael Remis, Andrew Paterson, Bev Novenski, Ashley Robinson, Carol Radford-Grant, Marc Cyrenne, Lesley Cyrenne, Grant Langford, Byron Jespersen, Sofia Moreno and Jade Clarke.