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<\/p>\nRiders head coach Corey Mace understands the benefits of a first-place finish and home playoff game, but he\u2019s not about to change what has resulted in a successful season so far. <\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s cool that we\u2019re in a situation that can lead the one thing to the next, but we just stick to our process of trying to win each week. The rest of it kind of just takes care of itself,\u201d said Mace, who has a record of 20-12-1 as the Riders head coach. \u201cSo, would it be really nice? Obviously, I think for our organization, our guys and the fan base, to host a Western final, yeah, I\u2019m sure. But what\u2019s more important right now is going undefeated this week, and that\u2019s honestly how everybody feels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Argos, who are the defending Grey Cup champions, head into the game with a new starting quarterback. Jarret Doege takes over from Nick Arbuckle, who suffered a shoulder injury early in a 47-29 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 4. Arbuckle reportedly suffered a fractured scapula and is facing an estimated recovery period of eight weeks.<\/p>\n
Arbuckle has been the Argos starting quarterback since Chad Kelly suffered a fractured right tibia in last season\u2019s East Division final. Kelly, the CFL\u2019s Most Outstanding Player in 2023, has missed the entire 2025 season and is not expected to return to the Argos this year.<\/p>\n
Doege, who is 62 of 92 passing for 565 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions this season, joined the Argos after spending two seasons with the Edmonton Elks, where he had limited playing time. Friday\u2019s game will be only the third CFL start for the 27-year-old quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have tremendous confidence myself,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to just get reps in practice. It\u2019s hard to be a backup. You get very minimal reps, and you go out in the game and have to execute the plays. I wasn\u2019t here in camp, like I\u2019m still learning with this offence. So just the more reps I can get, the better I\u2019ll feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both teams will be missing starters on defence Friday. Argos middle linebacker Wynton McManis is dealing with a groin injury and reportedly will not play in the final two regular season games. Saskatchewan will be missing defensive back Rolan Milligan, the West Division\u2019s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2024, and cornerback Tevaughn Campbell.<\/p>\n
The Riders will also be without receiver Donte Meyers who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Meyers, who has 1,056 yards receiving this season, was injured in last week\u2019s victory over the Ottawa Redblacks where he had six catches for 158 yards and one touchdown.<\/p>\n
The Argos and Riders met earlier this season, with Saskatchewan grabbing a 39-32 victory in Toronto on June 30. The game had a wild finish with the Argos scoring with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the contest 32-32. The Riders then pulled out the victory when Mario Alford returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Should the Argos beat the Riders on Friday, Saskatchewan can still clinch first place this weekend if the Tiger-Cats beat the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (5-11) AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (11-4)<\/p>\n
Friday, Mosaic Stadium<\/p>\n
OFF AND RUNNING: Riders running back A.J. Ouellette is currently second in the CFL in rushing with 1,110 yards, 10 behind Dedrick Mills of the Stampeders. Ouellette leads the league with 222 carries, the highest mark by a Riders running back since Kory Sheets had 287 carries in 2013.<\/p>\n
LEADING THE 50+ CLUB: Toronto kicker Lirim Hajrullahu has hit nine field goals of 50 yards or more this season, tops in the league.<\/p>\n
BALL HAWKS: The Riders are tied for the league lead in interceptions at 21 with the Tiger-Cats. Campbell is the league leader with six interceptions. <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 9, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jeff DeDekker, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riders head coach Corey Mace understands the benefits of a first-place finish and home playoff game, but he\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-202259","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\/202259","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=202259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}