‘It’s happening’: Corey Mace weighs in on final Riders home game with 55-yard line

Photo: Tanner Piper/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

Get a good look, Rider Nation. Saturday afternoon will be the final time you’ll see a 55-yard line stitched into the Mosaic Stadium turf for a CFL game.

Saskatchewan’s regular-season finale against the Edmonton Elks will serve as a local send-off for the treasured symbol of Canadiana. Speaking ahead of the match-up, head coach Corey Mace acknowledged the emotional reaction that many fans have had to the change, while emphasizing the need to move forward.

“I don’t even want to say it’s a Canadian thing. I just think it’s been a part of this game for so long; anything, when you get change, it’s just hard to see it until you’re a part of it,” Mace told reporters. “It’s happening, so you’ve got to figure it out, guys.”

CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston announced sweeping structural rule changes last season, the most substantial of which are slated to take effect in 2027. Those involve shrinking the length of the field from 110 yards to 100, cutting five yards off the end zones, and moving the goalposts from the goal line to the back of the end zone. The result will be a CFL field that looks visually different than the one that generations of fans grew up watching.

While leadership from all nine franchises provided unanimous support for Johnston’s proposal, it has been met with a vocal outcry from select players and fans, with some going so far as to call it an attempt at Americanization and threatening to cancel their season tickets going forward. Concerns have also been raised about the impact on university and minor football at multi-use venues like Mosaic Stadium, with Football Canada and U Sports recently confirming that they will not follow the CFL’s lead.

More than a year after the announcement, those wounds are still raw. However, Mace is focused on more practical matters for his football team, and promises that those who endure the discomfort of change will continue to be rewarded.

“For us as coaches on a team, we’ve got to figure out logistically and schematically, and how that can benefit us as we move forward to make sure that we still give our fans something to cheer about,” he said. “That’s what it will come down to. At the end of the day, your favourite players will be putting on the green and white, and they’ll be representing your province, so let’s keep it at that.”

While Mosaic’s turf will soon change, the Roughriders (9-8) hope that they’ll have three more weeks to enjoy the 55. Saturday’s result will determine whether the team heads to Vancouver for the West Semi-Final or is forced to travel to Toronto as the crossover team.

Either way, they have a path to playing the final game on a 110-yard field in CFL history: the 113th Grey Cup in Calgary.