Corey Mace wouldn’t let Trevor Harris ‘brush off’ 40,000 career passing yards milestone

Photo courtesy: Arthur Ward/CFL.ca

Enduring awkward or unpleasant situations in the interest of politeness is a universal part of the human experience. Sometimes, you just have to choke down your mother-in-law’s burnt casserole with a smile on your face, or let your coworker show you pictures of their trip to Punta Cana, even if you couldn’t care less.

For Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris, politeness meant begrudgingly accepting a game ball from head coach Corey Mace on Friday night after surpassing 40,000 career passing yards.

“I’m not usually into the numbers thing, but when Mace just did this after the game, and said, ‘He’s only the 12th to do it,’ for me to just brush it off, I think, would be rude,” Harris said at the podium. “It’s a big deal to Mace, and for him to do that was awesome. I’m truly just grateful. God is good. I’m thankful that Jesus has sent me on the path that I’ve been on, and all the ups and downs and ebbs and flows, and to be able to do that on a professional level is something that just blows my mind.”

Harris accomplished the feat with a hitch route completion to D’Sean Mimbs for 23 yards on second-and-12 midway through the first quarter. Though the throw did not move him up the all-time passing charts, as the 40-year-old still trails Tracy Ham for 11th in career yardage, it provided a round number worth celebrating in the eyes of his head coach.

“It’s incredible. We all know how long the league’s been around, and there’s only 12 people to do that,” Mace said. “In true Trevor fashion, he took that football and was looking to give away the offensive player of the game ball. I said, ‘No, buddy, that’s your ball. You pick another one to give somebody else.'”

“That’s Trevor, though. He ain’t never gonna be the ‘me guy’ or accept it. He’s always gonna deflect, and it’s not a show. That’s really who he is, which is a huge part of why you love him. I’ll tell you what, nobody got more cheers than when he got that ball because that’s incredible, man, and we’re so happy to have him on a personal level. So grateful for that guy, not just as a football player to be our quarterback, but just so many other things have eff-all to do with him throwing the football.”

Harris’ unique accomplishment proved to be more than just a fun historical footnote. It came amidst a 401-yard, two-touchdown performance, as the Riders secured a 42-20 blowout win over the Ottawa Redblacks. That came without the services of two of his top receivers, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus, starting running back A.J. Ouellette, or his replacement, Quali Conley, for much of the night.

What was initially a close contest, with Saskatchewan leading by just four points at the half, spiralled out of control quickly. Harris completed 17-of-18 passes over the final 30 minutes, leading four consecutive touchdown drives. The veteran quarterback attributed that delayed success to figuring out an Ottawa defence that swapped coordinators earlier in the week.

“We didn’t have any film on them as a defence in terms of what they were going to do. They did a little bit of stuff that they did, and they mixed up some really good zone coverages, made it difficult, and their halfbacks were able to kind of converge and squeeze some vertical routes when I was trying to reset,” Harris explained.

“They did a good job with their robber coverage, funnelling things to their interior insulators, and robbing low and intermediate routes, which I feel like intermediate routes is what we do a really good job of, and they did a good job of taking those things away. I think once we were able to make our subtle adjustments and get a good bead on what they were doing, we were able to move the football. ”

Mace offered a much simpler explanation for why the Saskatchewan offence was able to adapt in difficult circumstances.

“Thank goodness we’ve got a quarterback back there that’s thrown for over 40,000. He’s seen a little bit of football too,” Mace chuckled. “Trevor’s good at football.”

Now up to 40,352 career yards, Harris could leapfrog Ham (40,534) on the all-time list as early as next week. The Waldo, Ohio, native might need to play into his 60s if he wants to challenge Anthony Calvillo’s CFL record of 79,816, but he could realistically surpass Doug Flutie (41,355) to move into the top 10 before the 2026 season is over.

Though he tries not to focus on those numbers, Harris takes his place in history and his responsibility as the face of the Riders’ franchise very seriously.

“I’m really thankful that I get to be the quarterback of this organization. I never, ever, ever take it for granted to be able to don the green and white and be here,” he said, addressing a question from team historian Rob Vanstone. “You know the history of this organization better than anybody, and the fact that I get to be the quarterback here, and you know who I am, is cool to me. I’m really thankful that I get to do this, and to join the 40k club is pretty cool. I think it just means maybe I’m getting a little older, though.”

The Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-2) will return to action on Saturday, August 15, when they visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT