Campbell Fair\u2019s first road trip with the Saskatchewan Roughriders was a snap.<\/p>\n
Board WestJet aircraft. Take chartered flight to Ottawa, where the Roughriders are to oppose the REDBLACKS on Friday night. Take bus to team hotel. No complications, delays, cancellations, hassles, etc.<\/p>\n
His previous excursion? Well, that was a different story \u2014\u00a0a 32-hour saga that involved multiple vehicles, airplanes and scheduling adjustments, plus a border crossing.<\/p>\n
It all began on the evening of Aug. 18 in Trenton, Ont., where the 25-year-old placekicker\/museum exhibit technician was building dinosaurs.<\/p>\n
After fielding a call from the Roughriders, Fair quickly pivoted and began the painstaking process of making his way to Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
No chartered flight. No direct flight. No time to spare.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove to Hamilton and then I switched cars,\u201d Fair recounted in advance of his CFL regular-season debut. \u201cMy grandpa drove me down to Buffalo. Then I flew from Buffalo to Newark and then from Newark to Denver, but (the first) flight got cancelled and then the second one got delayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it was Denver to Minot, and then we drove from Minot to (Regina). I got here at 3 in the morning and kicked that same day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fair, who had previously been on the Roughriders\u2019 practice roster in 2023, wasn\u2019t exactly eased into his second stint with the Green and White. As part of a game-simulation exercise, he was asked to kick a 55-yard field goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a long kick in there and it was good,\u201d Fair said. \u201cI was surprised. Once it came time to kick the field goals, it was pretty smooth and easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hard part was holding the first-down marker on the sideline. My legs were so tired. It was a struggle to just stand up. But field goals were fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fittingly, Fair is poised to handle the placekicking in the same city where he starred for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. In 2022, he kicked the longest field goal (55 yards) in Gee-Gees history.<\/p>\n
The Calgary Stampeders took notice, selecting Fair in the sixth round (51st overall) of the 2023 CFL Draft. He attended training camp with the Stampeders that year before spending 3\u00bd weeks with the Roughriders.<\/p>\n
Leading up to his latest CFL stop, he was working for a company that builds dinosaurs for museum exhibits that are displayed world-wide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been doing that in the summers since I was 15,\u201d Fair noted. \u201cThe past couple of years, I\u2019ve been doing it full time. That\u2019s kind of my plan when football is over \u2014 to go back into that and see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fair is one three-pointer away from becoming the 50th Roughrider to register a field goal since the franchise\u2019s inception as the Regina Rugby Club in 1910.<\/p>\n
The first field goal was registered on Sept. 26, 1914, when Elver (Heinie) Rogers completed the scoring in a 34-5 Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union victory over the Moose Jaw Robin Hoods at Dominion Park in Regina.<\/p>\n
GIFTS OF GRAB<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s game will feature two of the CFL\u2019s premier receiving corps.<\/p>\n
Kian Schaffer-Baker, who was injured on the Roughriders\u2019 first offensive series this season, returns to the lineup and joins Samuel Emilus, KeeSean Johnson, Dohnte Meyers and Tommy Nield in the starting five. Ajou Ajou and Dhel Duncan-Busby also provide proven receiving options.<\/p>\n
The REDBLACKS counter with Eugene Lewis, Justin Hardy, Bralon Addison, Kalil Pimpleton and Luther Hakunavanhu, with 2025 first-round draftee Keelan White backing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tall task for (the Saskatchewan) defensive backs but, at the same time, we feel like we can put the same amount of pressure on their secondary,\u201d Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace said. \u201cIt should be an entertaining game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The REDBLACKS\u2019 Dru Brown went 34-for-41 for 431 yards at Mosaic Stadium on June 5, when Saskatchewan posted a season-opening, 31-26 victory. Brown and the Roughriders\u2019 Trevor Harris each threw two TD passes.<\/p>\n
Despite an array of playmakers, Ottawa has a 4-10 record \u2014\u00a0although numbers can be deceiving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe discrepancy of talent in this league is not much from roster to roster,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning of the year, everybody feels like they have a legit chance to do it, and (the REDBLACKS) were no different. A lot of people were picking them at the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of talent. They\u2019re very physical. They\u2019re fast. They have good schemes. They\u2019re well-coached and they have a good quarterback. When you have that, you always have a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no gimmes in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNO STONES LEFT UNTURNED,\u201d EITHER<\/p>\n
Although the Roughriders carry a league-best 10-4 record into Friday\u2019s game, the emphasis of late has been on what to fix.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan is looking to rebound from back-to-back defeats, the most recent being a 27-25 loss to the host Edmonton Elks on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to figure it out and we\u2019ve been looking to do that,\u201d defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. said. \u201cThere\u2019s no stones left unturned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of the self-examination includes a deep dive into why slow starts have been an issue in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gets old,\u201d Milligan Jr. said. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to do everything we can to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was an immediate change after Calgary defeated the visiting Roughriders 32-15 on Aug. 23. Saskatchewan responded by sweeping a home-and-home set with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to be who we are,\u201d Milligan Jr. said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been winning a lot of games throughout the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the loss in Calgary and we were able to bounce back. We just have to be who we are and make sure we\u2019re doing it for four quarters, not two or three.\u201d<\/p>\n
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE<\/p>\n
Milligan Jr. was asked whether a shorter week \u2014 six days between games \u2014\u00a0was opportune in light of the Roughriders\u2019 burning desire to reverse their recent fortunes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter to me,\u201d he replied. \u201cI get another opportunity to play football and that\u2019s all I love to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to play ball. Whether it\u2019s a six-day week, seven-day week or eight-day week, it doesn\u2019t matter. I\u2019m just happy I get another opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under any circumstances, opportunities are something to cherish in professional football.<\/p>\n
A CFL player will take part in, at most, 21 games of consequence during a season. Compare that to Major League Baseball (162 regular-season games per team), the NHL (82) or the NBA (82).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to be out here, doing this week in and week out,\u201d Milligan Jr. said. \u201cIf you stay healthy and you\u2019re able to play the full 21 if you make it to the Grey Cup, it\u2019s a blessing. A lot of people don\u2019t get an opportunity to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just taking it one at a time, knowing that it could all be gone. We don\u2019t get many of them as it is. It\u2019s something I always keep in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
EXTRA POINTS<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Roughriders will clinch a home playoff game if they defeat Ottawa on Friday and the B.C. Lions get past the visiting Stampeders on Saturday. Saskatchewan secured a playoff berth, period, on Sept. 11.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Harris is 21 completions shy of moving into ninth on the CFL\u2019s all-time list. Matt Dunigan is currently ninth at 3,057. Harris needs 244 yards to record the 13th season of 4,000-plus passing yards by a Roughrider \u2014\u00a0and the first since Kevin Glenn in 2017 (4,038).<\/p>\n
\u2022 While with Ottawa in the 2017 playoffs, Harris tied a single-game record for completions against Saskatchewan (37). He shares the record with Hall of Famers Dieter Brock (at Hamilton Tiger-Cats, July 8, 1984) and Doug Flutie (versus B.C., Aug. 21, 1991; versus Calgary, Oct. 23, 1993). Harris went 37-for-60 for 457 yards against the visiting Roughriders, who were a crossover participant in the Eastern Semi-Final on Nov. 12, 2017.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Meyers needs 102 yards to join Johnson as a 1,000-yard receiver this season. Meyers and Johnson would give Saskatchewan multiple 1,000-yard pass catchers for the 13th time in franchise history. Emilus and Shawn Bane Jr. both exceeded 1,000 yards in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Fair and defensive back Sheldrick Redwine are to make their debuts with the Green and White on Friday. They will increase the Roughriders\u2019 lifetime total of active-roster players to 2,209. Redwine was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round (119th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Saskatchewan is making its third post-pandemic visit to Ottawa. The Roughriders did not play in the nation\u2019s capital in 2021 or 2022.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Philippe Gagnon will play left guard on Friday while making his first start as a Roughrider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Campbell Fair\u2019s first road trip with the Saskatchewan Roughriders was a snap. Board WestJet aircraft. Take chartered flight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-191938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191938","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=191938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}