The Saskatchewan Roughriders will make their first Eastern road trip of the 2026 season this week when they visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will make their first Eastern road trip of the 2026 season this week when they visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night.

While today’s players travel on charter flights, Roughriders Plaza of Honour quarterback Darian Durant remembers a much different experience during his early CFL days.

Speaking on SportsCage’s Double Talk segment, Durant laughed about the team’s old travel routines, which included commercial flights, lengthy layovers and even players helping themselves to hotel linens before heading home.

“I was a rookie at the time, so I didn’t know that trick, but I did take washcloths and towels,” Durant joked. “Everybody had a bag of something, trust me. That was our opportunity for the year to get some linen, so we were all for it.”

Durant said one road trip still stands out as the most memorable—and not for a good reason.

After a game in Toronto, the Roughriders couldn’t fly home immediately because there were no overnight flights into Regina. Instead, the team spent the night before catching an early morning flight that routed through Edmonton.

“We couldn’t leave after the game because no flights are coming into Regina,” Durant recalled. “Then we wake up at five in the morning and have to fly to Edmonton first and then back to Regina. I’m just like, ‘Wow, is this what travelling is going to be like?'”

The former Riders quarterback said the lengthy detour made for an exhausting trip.

“It was like a four-and-a-half-hour flight all the way to Edmonton and then back down to Regina. Oh man, it was bad,” Durant said.

Travel has become much easier for the Green and White in recent years, with the club now using charter flights for road games, eliminating many of the long travel days Durant experienced during the early part of his career.

You can hear Double Talk with Darian Durant every Monday on SportsCage.

AND that’s between the lines for Sheppard Realty in Regina. Specializing in farm and ranch real estate in Saskatchewan. Call Harry, Justin or Devan at 352-1866.