For Andrew Harris, his fifth Labour Day Classic is also a first.<\/p>\n
Harris, who starred in four Classics with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will be part of the opposing team on Sunday when the Saskatchewan Roughriders meet the visitors from Manitoba.<\/p>\n
The Roughriders\u2019 first-year running backs coach rushed for 362 yards on 57 carries over four Classics as a member of the Blue Bombers in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021. He also caught 16 passes for 131 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were so many years playing here \u2014just walking out, hearing the roar,\u201d the Winnipeg-born Harris reflects.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favourite part was when Saskatchewan would come out. I would always run down to (the north) end zone and people would be swearing at you and throwing things at you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fans are so passionate. It\u2019s exactly what you want and it\u2019s a great environment to play in.\u201d<\/p>\n
And play he did, rushing 15 times for 158 yards against a Saskatchewan side that won 31-23 on Sept. 2, 2018. The victorious quarterback, Zach Collaros, now calls signals for the Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n
Harris also put up big numbers against the Roughriders on Sept. 3, 2017, catching 10 passes for 72 yards and one TD.<\/p>\n
Overall, he amassed 495 yards from scrimmage \u2014\u00a0an average of 123.8 per game \u2014 in four early-September visits to Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part is realizing that I can\u2019t go out there and actually go hit somebody and make some plays,\u201d Harris says. \u201cThat has been an adjustment, for sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the anxiety and the pressure that the players have. As a coach, you still feel that, but you don\u2019t have the same effect because you can\u2019t actually go and execute it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as long as you prepare the guys and make sure that you slow the game down for them and just let them be themselves, that\u2019s the whole goal as a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The passion Harris demonstrated as a player is also evident as he embraces his new responsibilities.<\/p>\n
During practice sessions, he performs the running backs\u2019 drills in a fashion that rivals that of an active player.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the only time I get active,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing is, \u2018How can we get the most out of every run?\u2019 It\u2019s not just good enough to get a five-yard gain with a good hole. How can we get two or three more yards out of that? How can we get the highest run efficiency out of every play possible?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The approach elicits plaudits from the Roughriders\u2019 Head Coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom playing experience and getting into the detail of how to attack a hole and how to attack defenders, he\u2019s got all that and more,\u201d Corey Mace says.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, I\u2019m very pleased with where he\u2019s at schematically and he\u2019s continuing to grow. He\u2019s an excellent coach and he\u2019s only going to get better, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been excellent, man \u2014 a great addition. We\u2019re very happy with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris is delighted to be here as he prepares to experience the Classic from a different perspective and with a new allegiance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing from the other side is try to get on Saskatchewan early to get the crowd out of it,\u201d he says. \u201cIf the crowd\u2019s rockin\u2019 and it\u2019s loud in here, it makes it difficult to operate on offence.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, defensively and offensively, we\u2019ve got to start fast and we\u2019ve got to be physical and be up for the task. I\u2019m really excited to be on this side of it now.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust seeing the energy that this building brings, it\u2019s crucial and pivotal to the success of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Andrew Harris, his fifth Labour Day Classic is also a first. Harris, who starred in four Classics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-106951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}