The Saskatchewan Roughriders don’t appear to be all that concerned that they’re preparing to face arguably the best quarterback in the CFL and the league’s top offence.
Nathan Rourke and the B.C. Lions, winners of six of their last seven games, will oppose the Riders on Friday. Slowing down Rourke and his crew seems like a daunting task on paper, but the Riders insist they’re ready for it.
“He doesn’t have a lot of kryptonite. He’s an incredible player. We all understand that,” Roughriders coach Corey Mace told reporters in Regina on Tuesday. “But can we force him into some bad decisions? He’s a great quarterback, but he’s thrown interceptions. He’s lost games before. Same as any other quarterback.
“It’s about fine-tuning the details of what we have as far as our game plan to attack him, knowing that he’s probably going to make a few plays. We’ve just got to make sure we make one more than they do.”
Rourke has guided the Lions, now 7-6, to an incredible turnaround since returning from injury. They’re suddenly just two points back of the Riders.
Rourke has thrown for 3,476 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 11 games. His 71.1 completion percentage trails only Montreal’s Davis Alexander, while his 107.1 quarterback rating is third behind Alexander and Calgary’s Vernon Adams Jr.
With Rourke leading the way, the Lions rank first in the CFL with 121.3 rushing yards per game and second with 322.5 passing yards per contest.
It’s going to be a lot for the Riders to manage, at least in theory. But the film work they’ve done this week has them locked in, defensive lineman Aaron Patrick said.
“We’ve seen a lot, but nothing that we’re not prepared for,” he said. “We’ve got a great coaching staff. They help us throughout the week (with) the things that we’ve seen from when we’ve played them before as well as new tendencies that we need to prepare for and personnel and different schemes.
“When you’ve got a team of players and coaches that are working all week to try to do whatever they can to move forward, the majority of the time you’re going to move forward.”
Rourke has had a fair bit of success against the Riders this season.
He completed 24 of 37 passes for 330 yards in the teams’ first meeting, a 31-27 Saskatchewan win way back on June 13. He was even better in the next matchup, a B.C. victory, going 22-for-28 for 355 yards with two touchdowns and an interception with the score out of reach.
That should be worrisome, but the Riders aren’t fretting much.
“He’s a great player,” Riders safety Nelson Lokombo said. “We’ve just got to make sure that we’re in our zones, that we’re in our drops and making sure that we make plays on the ball if we need to.
“Just make sure we’re keyed in on our assignments and make sure that we’re out there and we do our jobs.”
Doing their jobs will be integral in their efforts to secure a win in this pivotal game.
Not only are the Riders trying to fend off the Lions (and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers) for second in the West Division, but they’re hoping to catch the 10-4 Edmonton Elks for top spot.
Patrick said it’s “super important” that Riders get a home playoff game this season. A win Friday would help immensely in that regard, especially since it would earn them the season series and the tiebreaker.
“It definitely plays a part in the standings and everything,” Lokombo said. “It matters in terms of wanting to get the best chance to win the division. We just want to win. That’s what we’re looking for.”
To do that, they’ll most likely have to make things difficult for Rourke.
