It might come as a bit of a surprise to some fans, but by his recollection, Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver and Saskatoon product Daniel Wiebe has never been to a Labour Day Classic game in Regina.
The problem is when you’re playing football pretty much every weekend the Classic takes place, it makes it rather difficult to get to Mosaic Stadium and check out the action in person.
Still, the legend of the game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers precedes itself, and Wiebe is looking forward to being part of the mayhem that’s the biggest game of the year for the Riders outside of the playoffs.
“I think it's gonna be awesome, the environment sounds like it's gonna be crazy,” Wiebe said after practice on Wednesday. “The support we have in Saskatchewan is insane, best fans in the league for sure, so to be here for that big game is gonna be amazing.”
If things go the way they have as of late, the U of S Huskies grad could find himself with a bigger role when it comes to dealing with the Blue Bombers than he has in previous outings. Wiebe is coming off the best game of his career with six catches for 56 yards last week against Toronto and now has nine catches for 113 yards and a touchdown on the season.
He played so well against the Argonauts that Darian Durant singled him out as a player to watch in coming contests earlier this week on the SportsCage.
“It’s going to be hard to take him out of the lineup if he can keep making plays,” Durant said.
For his part, Wiebe was honoured to receive the kudos.
“That means a lot,” he said. “Obviously he's a legendary player in the game. I think lots of stuff went well, lots of stuff to work on, so really just trying to build off it and be better for this game.”
It doesn’t hurt that Wiebe finds himself growing as a player as the season goes on and he gets used to the CFL game.
“I think I'm starting to adjust every time I'm out there,” he said. “Obviously when you play more, you get used to it a little more, so really just trying to grow and get adjusted as well as I can for sure.”
Having a solid crew of veteran receivers in the Riders dressing room to learn from has only helped his game evolve, Wiebe said, and he looks forward to continuing to put in the work to continue to improve.
“We’ve got great vets in that room and just in the whole building, so it's been amazing,” Wiebe said. “They've always been a great support, always been on my side, so to have those guys, it really means everything.”
The Labour Day Classic is set for Sunday evening, with the Rider Broadcast Network pregame show starting at 2 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the call at kick-off at 5 p.m.
