'Switching it up': After 3 straight losses the Riders are looking to get back in win column

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have not won a game since the Labour Day Classic and are currently on a three-game slide after their weekend loss to the Ottawa Redblacks.

“When stuff like this happens you kind of fall back on the things you’ve been fundamentally repping in your mind. And for that to be our mantra (not letting it affect us for more than 24 hours) up until this point, it’s only time for us to further back those principles. Which is to flush it and move on and play the next play,” said running back, Frankie Hickson after practice on Monday.

Monday’s practice looked different for the Riders as the team focused more on film study and less on their on-field work to as a different approach to try and get back in the win column.

“We talked about the definition of insanity so switching it up a bit. I think it might help but I think we got really good work in today. More of a mental day but it was really solid,” said quarterback, Jake Dolegala.

“We feel like our legs are a little tired right now and we’ve done it a lot of different ways. I felt like let’s try to get off them a little bit. We are in week 15. Let’s make day one more of a mental walk-through, introduce the scheme sort of day, and then we’ll pick it up again tomorrow,” said Craig Dickenson, head coach.

The team has now fallen to 6-8 on the season after their third straight loss. This record is familiar to the green and white as they only won six games last year and closed out the season with seven straight losses.

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“We’re going to need more than seven [wins] but you can’t get to eight without getting to seven. The guys know we’re going to have to string a few together here at the end to get in and then hopefully get hot. Six isn’t going to get it done, seven’s probably not. Eight maybe, but we’re trying to get to nine [wins],” said Dickenson when asked about trying to get over the hump to seven this season.

But the rest of the West division is playing in Saskatchewan’s favour after both Calgary and Edmonton also lost this past weekend. This keeps the Riders in third place in the West right now which is good enough for a playoff spot at this point in time.

“We still feel like if we play well and can play the way we’re capable of we can beat anybody. I think we’ve proven that. But we’ve also proven that if we don’t play well, anyone can beat it. So I think their confidence is not broken but I think we need to have a good week of preparation,” shared Dickenson.

The team will head to BC this weekend to take on the Lions who sit about the Riders in second in the West right now. The teams have split the season series so far. But both Dickenson and Hickson were asked about the pressure at this stage of the season given the three straight losses and not winning on the road since week three.

“We’re not feeling pressure. We’re relying on the basics, getting back to the basics, relying on each other as a team and staying together as a team,” stated Hickson.

“I’m not feeling any more pressure now than I ever have. But the reality is we have to win games and we have to get into the playoffs and play well, hopefully win a few [games],” Dickenson added.