BEL13VE!<\/p>\n
The promotional playoff phrase for a generation of Rider Nation was no more prominent than the final minutes of an emotional and heart-stopping finish to the West Final<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019s people at home going \u2018what are you doing?\u2019,\u201d pondered Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris<\/a> on the reaction to head coach Corey Mace kicking a field goal with under three minutes to go when the team had the ball on the five yard line in need of seven points to tie the game.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Most everyone at home, in the press box, and probably a few more on the Roughriders sideline, were thinking the right call would have been to go for it and try to score the tying point right then and there.<\/p>\n Instead, to the surprise of many Mace decided to kick, despite going for it on third and goal from the two earlier in the game.<\/p>\n I even uttered to my Game Day co-host Darrell Davis, \u2018What?!\u2019 I also might have added a few expletives along with it.<\/p>\n But Mace believed, like he has all season.<\/p>\n He trusted his defence would get the ball back and instead of a touchdown to tie, he trusted that the offence would get the ball back and score a game winning touchdown.<\/p>\n The defence did get the ball back but the offence failed to move the ball.<\/p>\n Mace had another decision many questioned. To go for it from third and 10 on your own side of half with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n Mace didn\u2019t waver in his belief that his defence could get the ball back again.<\/p>\n And they did.<\/p>\n A.J. Allen, the unheralded linebacker, who started the season as a backup, came up in another big moment for the Roughriders with a sack on second and three to bring down Nathan Rourke, his former teammate from his youth in Burlington, Ontario<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ball was kicked back to Trevor Harris and the Roughriders to begin what is one of the most impressive drives in Harris\u2019 illustrious career as he threw the game winning touchdown pass to Tommy Nield with 11 seconds left to put the Riders up for good in a 24-21 thriller!<\/p>\n But did Harris doubt the call two minutes earlier by his head coach?<\/p>\n Absolutely not.<\/p>\n \u201cI trust Corey Mace. He knows what he\u2019s doing,\u201d uttered a matter-of-fact Harris as his teammates celebrated in the locker room down the hall.<\/p>\n Belief and trust are the hallmarks of what has made the 2025 Roughriders the best team in the CFL and the favourite going into Grey Cup Sunday against the Montreal Alouettes.<\/p>\n The Roughriders trusted the 39-year old pivot had at least one more good year and he payed them back with a most outstanding player calibre season.<\/p>\n The Roughriders trusted receiver after receiver to step up with a rash of injuries and Joe Robustelli and Nield became household names in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n