{"id":201209,"date":"2025-10-09T22:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/201209\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T22:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:33:07","slug":"joe-robustelli-is-living-a-dream-in-green-deja-vu-for-brett-lauther-keesean-johnson-closing-in-on-90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/201209\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Robustelli is living a dream in green \u2026 Deja vu for Brett Lauther \u2026 KeeSean Johnson closing in on 90"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Robustelli enjoyed a stroll down memory lane<\/a> during a respite in Thursday\u2019s walk-through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a moment and it flashed before my eyes,\u201d the 28-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver said leading up to Friday\u2019s CFL game against the Toronto Argonauts (7 p.m., Mosaic Stadium)<\/a>. \u201cIt was super-random. I was just thinking about everything that has happened to get to this moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s surreal. This is something that was such a far-fetched dream and there are so many people who asked me, \u2018What are you doing pursuing a football career at 26 years old when you haven\u2019t played for 12 years?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see it all come to fruition, there are moments when I just look around the stadium and get emotional, because it still feels like a dream sometimes. These are things that I used to sit in my room and think about all the time: \u2018How am I going to make this happen?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of self-doubt that comes with that and all that type of stuff. So to be here and playing in these types of games, it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A victory on Friday would enable Saskatchewan to clinch first place in the West Division for only the ninth time in franchise history.<\/p>\n

The looming contest will also mark a return to the lineup for Robustelli, who has sat out the past four games for reasons that relate entirely to the ratio and not at all to performance.<\/p>\n

When he last played in a game, he had three catches for a team-high 72 yards in a 21-13 victory over the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 6. His 48-yard reception on a bomb from Trevor Harris got the Roughriders out of a jam after they were backed up to the one-yard line.<\/p>\n

Rare is the long completion in such a situation. Fittingly, it was Robustelli who made the catch, considering the odds he has overcome.<\/p>\n

The grandson of Pro Football Hall of Famer Andy Robustelli quit playing organized tackle football at age 14. He returned to the gridiron in 2023 as a member of the Tusculum University Pioneers, based in Greenville, Tenn.<\/p>\n

In eight games with Tusculum, he caught 20 passes for 475 yards \u2014\u00a0an average of 23.8 yards per catch \u2014 and six touchdowns.<\/p>\n

The Roughriders took notice of his productivity and athleticism and signed him on May 21, 2024. That was two weeks after rookie camp began.<\/p>\n

Robustelli made his CFL debut during last year\u2019s regular-season finale. After being activated in Week 3 of the 2025 campaign, he caught 33 passes for 469 yards and two TDs in 10 games before a spate of injuries created a ratio crunch that prompted the coaching staff to reluctantly relegate him to the sideline.<\/p>\n

An ankle injury to fellow American receiver Dohnte Meyers led to Robustelli rejoining the active roster.<\/p>\n

Meyers has 65 catches for 1,056 yards and a team-best eight TD receptions this season. Robustelli registered the Roughriders\u2019 2025 single-game highs of 11 catches and 191 yards when the Calgary Stampeders paid a visit on July 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all believe that we\u2019re starters,\u201d he said when asked about the Roughriders\u2019 wealth of receivers. \u201cWhen people go down, the next man is up, and that guy comes in and he produces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a testament to how hard we work and to our coaches and everything. We\u2019ve got a lot of talent in there. It\u2019s pretty wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

KICKING BACK IN TIME<\/p>\n

The Roughriders are in position to clinch first place with a home-field victory for the second time since Brett Lauther joined the team in 2018.<\/p>\n

Lauther kicked the go-ahead field goal with 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter when Saskatchewan downed Edmonton 23-13 at Mosaic Stadium on Nov. 2, 2019.<\/p>\n

His 11-yarder, which snapped a 13-13 tie, was soon followed by an insurance touchdown \u2014\u00a0linebacker Cameron Judge\u2019s 29-yard pick-six. Judge, coincidentally, will be part of the visiting team on Friday.<\/p>\n

Lauther is one of five current Roughriders who also played in the 2019 clincher. The others: Defensive linemen Micah Johnson and Charbel Dabire, long snapper Jorgen Hus and fullback Albert Awachie. (Dabire is on the six-game injured list.)<\/p>\n

Receiver Mitch Picton, who will be in the lineup on Friday, was with the Roughriders in 2019 but did not dress for the regular-season finale against Edmonton. Offensive lineman Logan Ferland was on the Roughriders\u2019 practice roster in 2019, when he was a graduating player with the PFC\u2019s Regina Thunder.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t seem like six years ago, but the calendar does not lie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes by quickly,\u201d said Lauther, 34. \u201cYou get old fast, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being the youngest player in the league in Hamilton my first year (2013) and now you\u2019re one of the older guys in the room. Each and every year, you\u2019re running out of time to try to win one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of good memories over the years, but I think the main thing we\u2019re trying to do is put some more numbers up in the north end zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauther referenced visible tributes to the Roughriders\u2019 Grey Cup championship seasons of 1966, 1989, 2007 and 2013. He has often spoken of his desire to help the team fill the two vacant panels to the right of 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to get too far ahead of yourself but, even if I didn\u2019t want to look, I look at those numbers when I kick my field goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pick one of them out at the north end. At the south end, I\u2019m always looking at the SaskTel (MaxTron) letters and picking one of those.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I didn\u2019t want to look, I\u2019m always looking each and every kick.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLOSING IN ON 90<\/p>\n

KeeSean Johnson, who turned 29 on Thursday, needs only five receptions to join a select group.<\/p>\n

Seven players have combined to post the 11 seasons of 90-plus receptions in Roughriders history. Don Narcisse, Ray Elgaard, Craig Ellis and Joey Walters each reached 90 two times.<\/p>\n

Curtis Marsh, Weston Dressler and current Roughrider Shawn Bane Jr. are the other members of the 90 Club. Johnson is third in the league in catches (85) and receiving yards (1,156).<\/p>\n

EXTRA POINTS<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former Roughriders receivers Steve Mazurak and Rob Bresciani are to be formally inducted into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday night. Mazurak played for the Green and White from 1973 to 1980. Bresciani was on the Roughriders\u2019 roster in 1988 and 1989. They are being enshrined alongside Dale Derkatch (hockey), Janine Polischuk (athletics), Mervin Tran (figure skating) and members of the 2013 Thunder. The Thunder is being inducted in the team category.<\/p>\n

\u2022 When defensive back Nafees Lyon makes his debut with the Roughriders on Friday, he will be the 2,210th active-roster player in team history. Lyon will become the Riders\u2019 68th roster player this season. Saskatchewan dressed 72 players over 18 games last year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Defensive back Sheldrick Redwine<\/a>, who made his CFL debut on Oct. 3 when the Roughriders defeated the host Ottawa REDBLACKS 20-13, is poised to make his first start in three-down football. He will become the Roughriders\u2019 44th starter of the season. Saskatchewan started 47 players over the course of the 2024 campaign. Redwine steps in for injured defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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