{"id":269576,"date":"2025-11-08T08:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T08:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/269576\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T08:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T08:31:09","slug":"im-not-here-to-talk-about-nathan-rourke-trevor-harris-sees-saskatchewan-roughriders-as-big-dogs-in-west-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/269576\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’m not here to talk about Nathan Rourke’: Trevor Harris sees Saskatchewan Roughriders as ‘big dogs’ in West Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders<\/p>\n

B.C. Lions\u2019 quarterback Nathan Rourke has been the talk of the 2025 CFL season, but his counterpart in the West Final isn\u2019t interested in adding any more oxygen to that discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not here to talk about Nathan Rourke,\u201d Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 quarterback Trevor Harris told the media on Friday. \u201cI think it\u2019s our time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rourke is a finalist for both Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian, having thrown for 5,290 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, while rushing for an additional 564 yards and 10 majors. The Oakville, Ont., native topped the CFL in terms of passing efficiency in 2025 with a mark of 112.2 and has now led his team to seven straight victories to reach the second round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

That has overshadowed a quietly strong season from Harris, who sits tied for second in passer efficiency at 110.7. While the 39-year-old veteran finished well behind Rourke with 4,549 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and none of the rushing exploits, he boasted a higher completion percentage at 73.6 and threw fewer interceptions with 11.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, Harris led his team to the best record in the CFL and secured home-field advantage for the upcoming tilt between the two best passers in the West Division.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to dismiss the last question, Nathan Rourke\u2019s an awesome player, and we all respect him. We all love him. He\u2019s fun to watch, but we\u2019re excited about being here in this moment,\u201d Harris elaborated. \u201cThe Saskatchewan Roughriders are fired up to be here, and we\u2019ve got a focused bunch. We\u2019ve had a great week of prep, and we\u2019re just excited that the moment\u2019s finally here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to be the best version of myself I can be for my team, and that\u2019s kind of where I\u2019m at with it. Just go out there and glorify my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and do the best I can tomorrow. I\u2019ve never really concerned myself too much with the other quarterbacks. I do get it, Nathan\u2019s a great player, but I feel like it\u2019s our time.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Harris\u2019 refusal to discuss Rourke will only fuel external narratives ahead of their head-to-head battle, the man he doesn\u2019t want to talk about won\u2019t be taking issue with it. The Lions\u2019 QB has never viewed the game as a duel between quarterbacks and understands why Harris wouldn\u2019t want it to be framed that way either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not worried about their offence, we\u2019re preparing for their defence. I understand that mentality, for sure,\u201d Rourke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was the same thing last week. There was a good amount trying to be made about me and (Vernon Adams Jr.). As much as I watch all the quarterbacks in this league and respect them and follow them and try to learn something from them, we never have the chance to play. We\u2019re not on the field at the same time. This is a really good Saskatchewan defence, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m worried about right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rourke is making his fourth career playoff start and returns to the West Final for the first time since 2022, when he fell to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers while still battling the effects of a Lisfranc sprain. Harris has far more postseason experience, having started 10 contests already, including one Grey Cup, but has gone 4-6 all-time in elimination games.<\/p>\n

His most recent loss came in the West Final last season, when the Riders succumbed to Winnipeg on the road. This time around, he feels things have changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the big dogs,\u201d Harris said confidently when asked what\u2019s different this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinnipeg had run the West for quite a long time, and so we were going into Princess Auto Stadium trying to take the reins and get to the Grey Cup, and unfortunately, fell short. This year, B.C. is coming here. It should be a heavyweight tilt tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there is a fine line between confidence and false bravado, Riders\u2019 head coach Corey Mace believes his quarterback has the right mindset entering Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you should carry that mentality in any game that you play. If you\u2019re going in thinking that you\u2019re nervous and it ain\u2019t going to work out for you, I don\u2019t know if that bodes well going into a physical football game,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a team, I just think having that experience for us last year bodes well going in a second time around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the high stakes, Harris says he\u2019ll feel no pressure in front of a robust home crowd at Mosaic Stadium. All external factors, be it the stage itself or the quarterback he\u2019s facing, are irrelevant to the task at hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you understand there\u2019s more eyeballs on the game, but I was raised by a guy who never let me get a moment too big, and to just take each moment for what it is,\u201d Harris said. \u201cTomorrow\u2019s a 12-on-12. The rules are still the same. Defences are defences, and so just go out and play our game to the best of our ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know they\u2019re going to come in fighting, and so are we. It just comes down to executing one play at a time. I think it\u2019s easy to kind of get caught up in the hype and let the pressure build up. But it\u2019s ultimately, who\u2019s going to deal with the elements the best tomorrow? Who\u2019s going to deal with each big moment? Who\u2019s going to respond to the situational things in the game where they\u2019re unexpected, maybe a turnover or a big play? How do you respond in these big moments? I think this locker room is built for moments like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saskatchewan Roughriders (12-6) will host the B.C. Lions (12-7) in the West Final at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Saturday, November 8, with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m. EST.\u00a0The Lions defeated the Calgary Stampeders by a score of 33-30 in the West Semi-Final<\/a>, while the Roughriders were on bye after finishing atop the West Division standings.<\/p>\n

The weather forecast in Regina calls for a high of minus-six degrees and mainly sunny conditions. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on 730 CKNW in Vancouver and 620 CKRM in Regina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders B.C. Lions\u2019 quarterback Nathan Rourke has been the talk of the 2025 CFL season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-269576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269576","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=269576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}