Hamilton @ Saskatchewan preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2016 ) Hamilton 18, Saskatchewan 20

The Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a battle of winless teams Saturday. The Roughriders have dropped their first two games of the season by a combined four points, including a heartbreaking 43-40 double-overtime loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the first CFL game at the new Mosaic Stadium on Canada Day, and hope to turn their fortunes around by beating Hamilton for only the second time in six meetings.

"We have to play better," Saskatchewan coach Chris Jones told reporters. "We have to find a way to do things the correct way 100 percent of the time and not just some of the time." The Tiger-Cats had a week off to lick their wounds following a disappointing 32-15 setback to the Toronto Argonauts. Many experts considered Hamilton to be the main challenger to the Ottawa Redblacks in the battle for the East Division title but the Tiger-Cats looked anything but contenders as they were held to 232 yards of net offence and surrendered five sacks against the Argonauts. Hamilton has dropped six of its last seven regular-season games dating back to last year, but fared well recently against the Roughriders, winning four of the last five meetings, including a 53-7 thrashing Aug. 20, 2016.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, TSN, ESPN2

ABOUT THE TIGER-CATS (0-1): Terrence Toliver, who caught 65 passes for 1,036 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016, was put on the six-game injured list after suffering a knee injury in the first quarter against Toronto. Hamilton's secondary was torched for 506 passing yards in its opener and will once again be without two defensive backs in all-star Abdul Kanneh and Emanuel Davis, who was placed on the six-game injured list. "We had some guys that had a lot of mental errors and it starts there," Hamilton coach Kent Austin told reporters. "We're looking forward to seeing some improvement going into the second game and we're going to tinker early and find out the most competitive team."

ABOUT THE ROUGHRIDERS (0-2): Kevin Glenn threw for 377 yards and four touchdowns including a scoring toss to Nic Demski, who finished with seven receptions for 82 yards against Winnipeg. Defensive end Jonathan Newsome, who appeared in all 18 games for Saskatchewan last season, was released Tuesday while linebacker Henoc Muamba could be in line to make his season debut after being taken off the six-game injured list. Tyler Crapigna missed a potential game-winning field goal for the second week in a row, prompting Jones to hold an open kicking competition between Crapigna and Quinn Van Gylswyk at practice this week.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Saskatchewan is tied for the league lead with four turnovers.

2. Hamilton DB Will Hill blocked two kicks in his CFL debut in Week 1.

3. The Roughriders are 5-15 under Jones.

PREDICTION: Roughriders 23, Tiger-Cats 21