If they can register a hat trick on Saturday night, the Calgary Stampeders will put themselves in the driver’s seat to finish second in the CFL’s Western Conference.
Three straight wins, the first two coming over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, have squared Calgary’s record at 5-5. Visiting Saskatchewan (5-4) needs to salvage the last of its three straight games with the Stamps in order to maintain its hold on second place.
Neither team is catching 9-1 Winnipeg atop the West, but the winner will give itself a better chance at finishing second and opening the playoffs with a home game.
Calgary’s recent surge has much to do with veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. He hit on 22 of 32 passes last week in a 39-10 win at British Columbia after going 20 of 28 for 296 yards the previous week at Saskatchewan.
Stamps coach Dave Dickenson on Wednesday referred to Mitchell as the greatest quarterback in franchise history, which caused a stir since Doug Flutie led Calgary to the Grey Cup in 1992 and threw 140 touchdown passes in four years.
Flutie took to Twitter on Thursday to agree with Dickenson.
“No hard feelings brotha,” Flutie said. “Bo is that guy.”
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan needs someone to be that guy anywhere on the field. The Roughriders are 2-4 since opening with consecutive wins over BC, Hamilton and hapless Ottawa.
What’s more, Saskatchewan has another big game on tap at playoff hopeful Montreal on Oct. 30.
Wide receiver Brayden Lenius said the team’s bye week last week came at the right time.
“We’re gonna come back different,” he said.
The difference needs to be on offense. In their five wins, the Roughriders are averaging 29.4 points per game. In the four losses, they’ve scored just 13.3 per game.
To that end, Saskatchewan might be able to beef up its receiver position. Coach Craig Dickenson said that veterans Duke Williams and Shaq Evans might play Saturday night. Evans has missed the last seven games with a broken foot.
–Field Level Media
