REGINA — It was a little over a month ago that Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Daniel Wiebe caught what was arguably the biggest pass of his football career.
The former University of Saskatchewan Huskies standout hauled in the game-winning touchdown to give the Green and White a 31-27 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, with the preseason win coming at his old stomping grounds at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
To say the least, it was a huge moment for the Bridge City product in front of his hometown fans — and now, he’s a matter of hours from doing it all for real.
The Roughriders revealed Thursday morning that the 23-year-old slotback will be making his Canadian Football League regular season debut when Saskatchewan faces the Toronto Argonauts on Friday at Mosaic Stadium.
“I mean, it's really just a dream come true,” Wiebe said after the team walkthrough on Thursday. “I've been thinking about this moment since I was a kid, so to finally have it come to life is crazy. I'm just excited to go out there and do my best and be the best teammate I can be.”
Wiebe’s opportunity comes after slotback Dhel Duncan-Busby was moved to the one-game injured list with a shoulder ailment and will see him spelling off starting slots Kian Schaffer-Baker, Sam Emilus and D’Sean Mimbs, who is also making his season debut.
It promises to be a special moment for Wiebe, and one where he’s doing all he can to stay in the moment.
“The pressure's been a little bit up, it’s the first pro game, so it's going to be a lot of different situations to be in for sure,” Wiebe said. “But yeah, just trying to stay in the moment as much as I can. A lot of what I did back with the Huskies was just kind of let game day be game day, but let today be today. So that's kind of the mindset I'm going in with for now, too.
"At the end of the day, it's football, it's a high level, but just try to let the moment be the moment, not make it too much.”
Wiebe does have one advantage over his fellow debutantes — linebacker Seyi Oladipo Jr., running back Quali Conley and defensive lineman Jaylen Pate will also be making their CFL debuts — in that he already has a huge built-in fan base. A slew of family and friends were already planning to make the trek to Mosaic Stadium on Friday night, and that number will only grow now that he’s officially in the line-up.
Add them to the 30,000 or so fans more than ready to cheer on a Saskatchewan product playing for the Riders, and you can understand how special the game will be.
“The environment will be different, it's going to be a packed, packed stadium, which is amazing,” Wiebe said. “I couldn't be more excited for that, it'll be a new experience and I'm looking forward to it a ton.”
The contest between the Roughriders and Argonauts kicks off at 7 p.m. from Mosaic Stadium, with the Rider Broadcast Network pre-game show beginning at 4 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the game call at kickoff.
