Saskatchewan @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 22, 2016 ) Montreal 19, Saskatchewan 14

The Montreal Alouettes host the Saskatchewan Roughriders to kick off the 2017 CFL season Thursday. The Alouettes cleaned house after a tumultuous 2016 campaign and first-year general manager Kavis Reed has pinned his hopes on veteran quarterback Darian Durant, who spent 10 seasons with Saskatchewan before he was acquired by Montreal in the offseason, to kickstart an an anemic offence that averaged a CFL-low 253 passing yards last season.

"I just told the guys this is a new beginning and to forget about what happened in the past," Durant told reporters. "With the team we have in place there's no reason why we can't make a run at it." Saskatchewan looks to take a step forward after a disappointing first season under Chris Jones. Jones' hiring was hailed as a major coup with the 50-year-old coming off a Grey Cup victory with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2015, but the move failed to pay instant dividends as Saskatchewan dropped 10 of its first 11 games and Jones missed the playoffs for the first time in his 15-year CFL coaching career. "I've never been in a situation where I won only five football games in a season so I took that very personally," Jones told reporters. "You've got to figure out exactly what you need to do and where to go from here because there ain't no fixing yesterday."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN, RDS, ESPNews

ABOUT THE ROUGHRIDERS (2016: 5-13): Former Heisman Trophy winner and Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young was released June 17 after missing both preseason games with a torn hamstring. Saskatchewan made a big splash in the free agent market by signing talented but troubled wide receiver Duron Carter, who caught 61 passes for 938 yards and five touchdowns with the Alouettes in 2016. Kevin Glenn, who was named the starting quarterback last week, returns to Montreal where he spent the previous 18 months, and hopes to breathe life into a Roughriders attack, which averaged a CFL-worst 19.4 points per game last season.

ABOUT THE ALOUETTES (2016: 7-11): Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman, who was selected 17th overall in the 2009 NFL draft, worked out for Montreal last week but wasn't offered a roster spot. Fourteen-year veteran Nik Lewis continues to defy time as he led the team in receptions (102) and receiving yards (1,136) in 2016, and needs 53 catches to break the CFL record set by Geroy Simon (1,029). Durant showed no ill effects of the knee injury which forced him to miss the first preseason game against the Toronto Argonauts as he threw for 113 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-5 exhibition victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on June 15.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Montreal has won the last two meetings by an average of 21.5 points.

2. Saskatchewan is 3-15 on the road since the start of the 2015 season.

3. The Roughriders have won three of their last four season openers.

PREDICTION: Alouettes 24, Roughriders 19