Saskatchewan @ Toronto preview
BMO Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 15, 2018 ) Toronto 19, Saskatchewan 27
The Saskatchewan Roughriders look to bounce back from their first loss in six weeks when they visit the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday. The Roughriders were riding a four-game winning streak before falling flat in the 25-20 home loss to the Ottawa Redblacks, and hope to pull ahead of the Edmonton Eskimos in the race for second place in the West Division by taking down the Argonauts for the fifth straight time in the regular season.
"We have to keep working and we can't let the games we won in the past affect how we play our opponents moving forward," Saskatchewan safety Mike Edem told reporters. "We have to take every opponent seriously and not take them lightly." Toronto's playoff hopes are on life support following a 36-25 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Labour Day rematch in Week 13. The Argonauts have dropped three straight games, including back-to-back contests against the Tiger-Cats, to fall into last place and the defending Grey Cup champions aim to keep their fading postseason hopes alive by knocking off the Roughriders for the first time since June 30, 2016. "This is a situation that certainly was not expected by anybody in our locker room," Toronto coach Marc Trestman told reporters. "There is a flicker of a team that is capable when we begin to be more consistent."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN
ABOUT THE ROUGHRIDERS (7-5): Zach Collaros was limited to 162 yards on 10-of-27 passing - the fewest amount of completions by a Saskatchewan quarterback since Nov. 8, 2014 - in the loss to the Redblacks. Marcus Thigpen returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and Kyran Moore took a punt back 90 yards for a score to give Saskatchewan a punt and kickoff return touchdown in the same game for the first time since Aug. 17, 2003. Strong-side linebacker Matt Elam, who made four tackles against Ottawa, didn't practice during the week with an undisclosed issue and could miss Saturday's contest.
ABOUT THE ARGONAUTS (3-8): McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 27-of-42 passes for 295 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his last game against the Tiger-Cats. Wide receiver Duron Carter made his Argonauts debut against Hamilton, but played limited snaps as he continues to learn the playbook and will make his first start against his former team, which abruptly released the two-time CFL all-star Aug. 11. Toronto was busy during its off week as it shipped off kick returner Martese Jackson to the Edmonton Eskimos in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2019 CFL Draft.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Roughriders DE Charleston Hughes leads the CFL in sacks (13).
2. Toronto is 2-5 against West Division foes.
3. Saskatchewan has returned four kicks for touchdowns in 2018.
PREDICTION: Roughriders 28, Argonauts 20