The Saskatchewan Roughriders are slight road favourites over the Edmonton Elks when the two teams clash at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday.
The Riders have won back-to-back games to take second place in the West Division, sitting one point ahead of the B.C. Lions and five points ahead of the Edmonton Elks. A win this weekend would put them out of Edmonton’s reach and could clinch a playoff berth, depending on how the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders fare on Friday night.
If the Tiger-Cats lose to Winnipeg, the Stampeders lose to B.C., and Saskatchewan beats Edmonton, the Riders would return to the postseason for the first time since 2021 when they beat Calgary in overtime in the West Semi-Final before losing to the Blue Bombers in the West Final at Princess Auto Stadium.
Edmonton was looking to make a surprise playoff run after winning five-of-six games following a miserable 0-7 start, though those dreams may have been dashed by back-to-back losses to Winnipeg, including a 55-27 dismembering this past week.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson is expected to start for the Elks and he played well last week despite the lopsided score, throwing for 223 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions against arguably the CFL’s best defence. He has started 12 games for Edmonton this year, posting a record of 3-9.
Trevor Harris didn’t find the end zone during Saskatchewan’s 29-16 win over the Ottawa Redblacks last week but has played consistently well since returning from injury, throwing for nine touchdowns and four interceptions and rushing for 65 yards and two scores over six starts, going 2-4.
Saskatchewan’s biggest strength of late has been their running game with Ryquell Armstead rushing for 207 yards in a recent win over Calgary and Thomas Bertrand-Hudon managing 72 yards and one touchdown in a relief effort this past week. The club has also gotten back to generating more takeaways on defence as Rolan Milligan Jr., Marcus Sayles, and Adam Auclair each intercepted Jeremiah Masoli last game.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-7-1) will visit the Edmonton Elks (5-10) on Saturday, Oct. 5 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT.
