The Saskatchewan Roughriders know how to defeat B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke, as evidenced by their 31-27 victory all the way back in Week 2 of the CFL season.
They’ve also fallen victim to the year-by-year Most Outstanding Player candidate, as was the case in their 30-16 loss to the Lions a month ago in Vancouver.
So the question now for the Green and White is which version of the team will show up on Friday night when they meet for the final time in the regular season?
Riders linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr. has a pretty good idea what he’d like to see, and it’s most definitely the former.
Brooks had a season-high 12 tackles in Saskatchewan’s early season win, and offered some ideas as to how to deal with Rourke, one of the most mobile and consistently dangerous pivots in the CFL.
“Keep him contained, make sure he doesn't get all the explosive plays that he gets usually,” Brooks said at practice on Wednesday afternoon. “And I think I should be talking to him, let him know we're here.”
Rourke threw for more than 300 yards in both outings, so finding a way to limit his production will be paramount. Brooks said that keeping him stationary and preventing the
scramble plays that make Rourke so effective is one of the keys in that direction.
“We want to keep him in the pocket so he makes the throws we want him to make,” he said. “Honestly, we’re trying to do nothing but play real good football, good defense and tackling by population.”
That last point — getting numbers to the ball carrier — will also be key if and when things start going awry for Rourke. The Lions also have a dangerous running game with Xander Horvath and James Butler alongside Rourke, and while the Riders have done exceptionally well in that facet of the game in recent outings, they’ll need more of the same this time around.
“That's all due to tackle by population,” Brooks said. “(Last game) we were doing a lot of arm tackles and stuff so this week you should see a lot more people to the ball. A lot more sprint to the ball and for sure a lot more tackling to the ball.”
The game will mark a return to the field for a handful of veterans, Brooks included. He hasn’t played since suffering a wrist injury in that Week 12 game against the Lions, with the bye week offering a chance to heal up once and for all.
“I've been off for a little minute, but my preparation this past couple of weeks has actually been good,” Brooks said. “Just been worried about my body, making sure that it’s as healthy as it can be and making sure I can go full fledge when Friday comes.”
The preparation has also included plenty of time in the film and meeting rooms with his fellow defensive players, where accountability has become a valuable asset.
“It's very uncomfortable in our rooms, because some people could be comfortable about being wrong and we don't want that,” Brooks said. “We make sure that everybody stays accountable and if you take one wrong step, we're going to tell you.”
The Rider Broadcast Network will have all the action on Friday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the pregame show. Teagan Witko and Wes Cates will have plenty of special guests, after which Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the game call at kickoff at 8:30 p.m.
