REGINA \u2014 For the first time since 2014, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will celebrate a Grey Cup championship prior to kicking off a new season.<\/p>\n
When the focus shifts to the game, their opponent in last year\u2019s Western Final, the BC Lions, await.<\/p>\n
The Lions begin the campaign in search of their first Grey Cup since 2011.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s three keys to victory for both teams ahead of Saturday\u2019s 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff, which can be watched on TSN in Canada, on CBSSN in the U.S., and on CFL+ internationally.<\/p>\n
RELATED BC LIONS<\/p>\n 1. NATHAN ROURKE<\/p>\n It seems like a no-brainer that starting quarterback Nathan Rourke<\/a> would factor into the Lions keys to victory. Rourke attempted an even 500 passes last season, including completing 23-of-28 for 368 yards and three touchdowns in the Western Final loss.<\/p>\n 2. SAME HIGH-END RECEIVING CORPS<\/p>\n Familiarity won\u2019t be an issue in the Lions pass game, as receivers Keon Hatcher Sr.<\/a>, Justin McInnis<\/a>, Stanley Berryhill III<\/a> and Jevon Cottoy<\/a> are all back and looking to get the team over the hump.<\/p>\n 3. STEADY IN THE SECONDARY<\/p>\n Facing one the league\u2019s all-time elite passers in Trevor Harris<\/a>, the Lions secondary needs to find a way to close time and space downfield. It\u2019s a unit held down by defensive backs Jackson Findlay<\/a> and T.J. Lee<\/a>, but requires support from former Ottawa REDBLACK C.J. Coldon Jr.<\/a> In the middle of the field, newcomer Darnell Sankey<\/a> will try to have an immediate impact.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS<\/p>\n 1. CARRY THE MOMENTUM<\/p>\n It\u2019s going to be an emotional start to the game for the Riders players, which they\u2019ll look to use to their advantage to get off to a fast start. Emotions can have a negative impact, too, so finding a way to balance the excitement is critical.<\/p>\n 2. TREVOR HARRIS<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to mention Rourke and not Trevor Harris<\/a> in this matchup. Is this the year Father Time catches up to the 40-year-old? Or will he build on a 2025 season that saw him throw for his most yards (4,549) since 2018? Saturday night will serve as the first test.<\/p>\n 3. ROLAN MILLIGAN JR. AND TEVAUGHN CAMPBELL BACK FOR MORE<\/p>\n Any success the secondary has against Rourke is likely to start with Rolan Milligan Jr.<\/a> and Tevaughn Campbell<\/a>. The pair combined for 10 interceptions a season ago and will be tasked with keeping tabs on the Lions top receivers all night long.<\/p>\n NEED TO KNOW:<\/p>\n BC finished just two points behind Saskatchewan for first in the West Division in 2025.
\u00bb Depth Charts: BC<\/a> | SSK<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Game Notes: Lions at Roughriders<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Tickets: BC at Saskatchewan<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Injury Reports: Stay up to date<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Who\u2019s gonna win? Play CFL Pick \u2018Em presented by Old Dutch now!<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s the first of three matchups between the Lions and Riders this season, with the next two being at BC Place in Week\u2019s 12 and 17.
\nKickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, and can be watched on TSN in Canada, on CBSSN in the U.S., and on CFL+ internationally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"REGINA \u2014 For the first time since 2014, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will celebrate a Grey Cup championship prior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-732849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732849","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=732849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}