Riders hoping to land road win for first time since Week 3
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have been in tough on the road this season. In their six away games played so far, they have only come out on top in two of them.
“Just a change of scenery, you know the crowd noise sometimes causes a little problem,” said Craig Dickenson, head coach, when asked why he believes it’s been so tough this season.
“But you know it’s a big challenge for us to play our best game this week at home or away. The fact that it’s away, I’m happy because we need to get better in our road performance.”
The team has not won an away matchup since Week 3 in Calgary. The Riders are off to face the Redblacks for the second time this season.
Saskatchewan defeated Ottawa when at Mosaic back in August, 26-24, after a 54-yard field goal in the dying seconds of the game.
But the Riders (6-7) know they will be in tough against the Redblacks (3-10) despite having a win against them under their belt and a better record.
“A big fight [is what I expect]. I mean they’re a desperate team and they’ve got everything to gain, nothing to lose in this game,” said Dickenson. “So we expect their best effort, we expect them to empty the clip so to speak, and give us everything they’ve got. In my opinion we need to play our best game of the year.”
The team will look a lot different this week on defence.
Linebacker Justin Hermand-Reed (Quad) is out, defensive linemen Miles Brown (groin), Nic Dheilly (foot), and Anthony Lanier II (hip), are also all listed as out for the game.
Another defensive lineman, Pete Robertson, (illness) is listed as questionable.
“Well you know we like Cody Roscoe and we like Christian Albright. Both of those guys practiced and we’ll have to decide which way we go. But both those guys are ready,” said Dickenson on who could potentially be activated off the practice roster this week.
On offence, the team will be without their top running back, Jamal Morrow. Morrow did not practice this week and will not suit up due to a knee injury.
Kickoff for Friday’s game is 5:00 p.m. CST.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

'Shadows of children': For the youngest hostages, life moves forward in whispers
After seven weeks held hostage in the tunnels of Gaza, they are finally free to laugh and chat and play. But some of the children who have come back from captivity are still reluctant to raise their voices above a whisper.
Extremely rare white alligator is born at a Florida reptile park
An extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park. The 19.2-inch (49 cm) female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of a few known leucistic alligators, Gatorland Orlando said Thursday.
Minnesota grocery store clerk dies after customer impales him with a golf club, police say
A Minneapolis store clerk died after a customer beat him and impaled him with a golf club, police said. The 66-year-old clerk was attacked Friday at the Oak Grove Grocery, a small neighborhood store in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis. A 44-year-old suspect is jailed on suspicion of murder.
A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv
City workers in Kyiv on Saturday dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
Ibrahim Ali found guilty of killing 13-year-old girl in B.C.
A jury has found Ibrahim Ali guilty of killing a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.
Protests at UN climate talks, from ceasefire calls to detainees, see 'shocking level of censorship'
Activists designated Saturday a day of protest at the COP28 summit in Dubai. But the rules of the game in the tightly controlled United Arab Emirates meant sharp restrictions on what demonstrators could say, where they could walk and what their signs could portray.
Bill 15: Quebec health reform passes after gov't invokes closure
After sitting through the night, early Saturday morning, members of the Quebec legislature finally passed Bill 15 to reform the health-care network, voting 75 to 27.
Marathon Conservative carbon tax filibuster ends after nearly 30 consecutive hours of House votes
The Conservative-prompted filibuster in the House of Commons ended Friday night, after MPs spent nearly 30 hours voting non-stop on the government's spending plans.
New U.S. aid for Ukraine by year-end seems increasingly out of reach as GOP ties it to border security
A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the aid with changes to America's immigration and border policies.