Watch the Redblacks battle the Roughriders LIVE Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET \/ 4:30 p.m. PT on TSN3, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a must-win, it\u2019s a great turning point for our season,\u201d said Ottawa defensive lineman Habakkuk Baldonado, who spent the past three seasons in Saskatchewan. \u201cThe first three games didn\u2019t go how we wanted them to go, but I think we showed a lot of great things. We showed that we\u2019re improving, and we\u2019re going to get there fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Redblacks showed signs of progress in last week\u2019s 37-35 loss to the Montreal Alouettes, breaking out for 29 second-half points in a comeback that ultimately fell short.<\/p>\n
Coach Ryan Dinwiddie liked a lot of what his team did, but the self-inflicted wounds that have been far too frequent since the start of the season need to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been preached every day since the start of training camp,\u201d said Dinwiddie. \u201cAt some stage those guys have to take ownership on it. I can\u2019t go out there and do it for them, right. I try to emphasize it, but you know I\u2019m trying to help them by shrinking the package, but you know they\u2019ve got to have some ownership as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake Maier, who spent last season in Saskatchewan backing up Trevor Harris, will make his fourth straight start. <\/p>\n
Maier said he learned a great deal from the 40-year-old Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best preparers I\u2019ve ever been around,\u201d Maier said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great leader, he\u2019s somebody that doesn\u2019t cheat the game, ever. You factor all those things in, and that\u2019s what you get. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou get a true professional that can play any system, play for a bunch of different teams, bond with all different types of players, different types of teammates, and yeah, he\u2019s one of the best in the business for a reason, but to me it\u2019s the preparation, the leadership and he doesn\u2019t cheat the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maier will have a new backup with McLeod Bethel-Thompson dressing for his first game as a Redblack.<\/p>\n
Dinwiddie said he believes Bethel-Thompson likely needs one more week to prepare, but wouldn\u2019t hesitate to put him in the lineup if necessary.<\/p>\n
Defensive back C.J. Reavis, who spent four seasons in Saskatchewan, says he sees similarities between the Redblacks and the Roughriders, who also had their share of struggles at the start of last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know guys are frustrated with the outcome, but not the process,\u201d said Reavis. \u201cI think that\u2019s the big thing. I\u2019m telling guys to be process driven and not results driven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ottawa will get some reinforcements with the return of veteran receiver Eugene Lewis, and defensive backs Alonzo Addae and Adrian Frye. The Roughriders will be without wide receivers Samuel Emilus and Jaylen Johnson, as well as defensive lineman Ali Saad.<\/p>\n
ROUGHRIDERS (2-1) VS. REDBLACKS (0-3)<\/p>\n
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT: The Roughriders\u2019 offence is in mid-season form, averaging 472.7 yards per game to lead the CFL.<\/p>\n
KALIL THE THRILL: Ottawa\u2019s Kalil Pimpleton leads the CFL in kickoff return yards, 466, and is averaging 33.3 yards per return after scoring a 94-yard kickoff return TD vs. Montreal on Sunday. <\/p>\n
RARE PICK: Trevor Harris threw his first interception of the season vs. Toronto, ending a streak of 195 consecutive attempts without a pick.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 When the Ottawa Redblacks host the Saskatchewan Roughriders Friday night, there will be plenty of familiar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-776472","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\/776472","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=776472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}