Full circle moment for Cody Fajardo if Riders clinch cross-over berth

A Saskatchewan Roughrider win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday could move the team one step closer to a post-season berth in the eastern division cross-over for the first time since 2017, the year the Riders lost to the Cody Fajardo’s former squad, the Toronto Argonauts, in the eastern final.

“I stood on the sideline (most of) the game, kind of cold then all of a sudden we’re on the 1 yard line and they say, ‘Hey Cody, go get in and win us this football game,’” said Fajardo.

Fajardo scored a 1-yard touchdown for the Toronto Argonauts in the 2017 eastern-final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders with 23 seconds to go in the game. It booked the Argos ticket to the 2017 Grey Cup where the team came out on top in the Championship game.

Now Fajardo finds himself on the other side of the ball looking to clinch a spot in the eastern cross-over but for the Riders this time.

“No one’s ever made it to the Grey Cup as a cross-over team and if we are the cross-over team, that would be our goal. It would be a pretty unique situation for us,” said Fajardo.

But it is not just Fajardo who was a member of the 2017 Grey Cup Championship squad that is now on the Riders roster. Offensive lineman, Jamal Campbell, was also a member of the team.

“It was just a magical and special year. We had a lot of guys that just believed in each other and you see that a lot here too,” said Campbell. “It’s kind of interesting that we could be in that situation and just have guys like Cody that have been through it, I think that is going to help us.”

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As of right now, the Argonauts are in first in the east division with a 8-6 record which could mean the Riders face them in the playoffs once again in a cross-over situation.

“Let’s just say we hope that it’s not like the eastern final in 2017. We just hope it’s reversed this time,” said Campbell.

But the journey to earning a spot in the playoff cross-over scenario begins with a win over Hamilton on Friday in order to finish ahead of them in the standings.

“It’s definitely ‘keep me awake’ important. I mean I’ve been up at 3 a.m. every night this week,” said defensive lineman Charleston Hughes when asked about the significance of this upcoming matchup.

Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. on TSN.