![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793060172_666_indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\nB.C. and Saskatchewan come in with identical 10-8 regular-season records. The Lions won the 2026 series 2-1, but the Riders have eliminated the Lions from the playoffs two years in a row. <\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
The defending Grey Cup-champion Riders are a fundamentally sound team that should never be taken lightly, said Lions head coach Buck Pierce. <\/p>\n
\u201cReally, for us, being able to change the pace or dictate the pace on offence and how we want to play is key, right?\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you look back at the games that we\u2019ve had this year, (they\u2019re) close physical ball games that are going to come down to the fourth quarter. And I\u2019m expecting really nothing different.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most recent matchup between the two sides came on Sept. 25, when B.C. took a 31-24 home victory in a game that saw star Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke pass for 375 yards with four touchdowns. <\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean Saturday\u2019s contest will look similar, Rourke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll have something different for us. They always do. They always have a wrinkle,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll do their self scouting, they\u2019ll have a plan for us. I think there might be some changes in the back end, trying to figure out who their personnel is and all that kind of stuff, getting some people who are healthy again. But ultimately we know that we\u2019re going to have to play our best to beat these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
The very best athletes evolve in important moments, said Lions receiver Jevon Cottoy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s different types of players that come playoff time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe get excited for the playoffs, because we\u2019ve talked about it since the off-season, since training camp, that this is where we want to be. So, big time players have to step up in these moments. We just got to make sure we do what we got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stepping up in big moments has become a theme for the Lions this season.<\/p>\n
The team struggled early and got off to a 1-5 record. Even then, everyone inside the organization expected B.C. to earn its way back to the playoffs, Rourke said. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur year certainly didn\u2019t start the way we wanted to, but we\u2019ve always trusted our process,\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe in our guys, believe in our locker room, believe in where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lions rebounded from the tough start with a 9-1 run and clinched a home playoff game, then closed out the regular-season campaign with a pair of losses as the team sat several top players.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s resilience has become its defining trait, Pierce said. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust proud of the way that we\u2019ve continued to focus on ourselves and not let results define you, or not let success define you,\u201d said the head coach. <\/p>\n
Now B.C. needs another victory on Saturday to keep playing. <\/p>\n
The winner of Saturday\u2019s game will visit the Edmonton Elks in the West Division final on Nov. 7. The Elks finished first in the West to earn a bye this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just a step on the journey,\u201d Rourke said. \u201cAnd like every week that we\u2019ve taken, we\u2019ve taken it one step at a time. And we\u2019re gonna give this all our attention and focus because these guys deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"B.C. and Saskatchewan come in with identical 10-8 regular-season records. The Lions won the 2026 series 2-1, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-947518","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\/947518","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=947518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}