From coaches and personnel to the rulebook and the play clock, so much of what was old is new again for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as they finalize preparations for their first CFL preseason game of 2026 today against the Calgary Stampeders.
“There’s a lot of operations that some of the new coaches haven’t had to do before,” head coach Corey Mace told the team’s radio play-by-play announcer Dave Thomas on Saturday. “Obviously Micah (Johnson, defensive line coach) and (special teams assistant Jeff) Stusek, he’s helped with training camp before but just being more dialed in on that and then obviously with the rule changes coming in, new for everybody so it’s good for everyone.”
Arguably the biggest change, for all teams, heading into this season is the introduction of a continuous 35-second play clock, replacing the traditional 20-second play clock that would only begin once whistled in by an official.
Today’s game will be the first chance for both the Riders and the Stamps to experience that wrinkle in real time.
“We’ve been practicing with it all camp so we have an idea, but ultimately it’s out of our control running that,” said Mace. “Maybe it’s faster, maybe it’s slower, but at least we’ve had plenty of reps in.”
Other changes for this season include a modified rouge and the elimination of ties.
As for the end result today, yes important, but not the be-all end-all either.
“You want to see it executed versus somebody else and when it’s live, so that does hold obviously a lot of weight but we’re evaluating everything,” said Mace. “Reps on the field, how they are in the meeting rooms, how they treat the people in the cafeterias, it’s everything, but certainly yes the game is very important.
