Saskatchewan Roughriders' head coach Corey Mace knows the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a decided home field advantage in the West Final but that doesn't mean the Green and White's prairie rivals should be favoured to win the game.
"I don't feel like this time is coming in here feeling like we are the underdog. Pure confidence in each other. We're a confident team," Mace said. "To try to come in here, beat a really good team in a hostile environment -- I believe that's what you do it for, it ain't going to be too much cooler than this."
Winnipeg won two of the three meetings between these teams in 2024 with Mace and his group's win coming in Week 7 with Shea Patterson at QB in a 19-9 victory. Trevor Harris was QB1 for the Labour Day Classic which resulted in a 35-33 loss and 26-21 defeat in the rematch one week later in the Manitoba capital.
"It's going to be a heavyweight fight," Harris said. "We're going to bring our own energy as a team. We know their fans are going to be behind them, it's going to be loud, chaotic -- I feel like we're ready for this moment, let's go."
"We believe that if we play our football, there's not a team in the league that we can't beat," Mace said. "This happens to be the team that we face this week and what an environment, what an exciting time -- everybody's going to be up for this one."
The Blue Bombers have won the West Final and advanced to the Grey Cup four seasons in a row. Winnipeg are trying to become the first team since the Edmonton Eskimos (1977-1982) to make it to five straight CFL championship games. Defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. admitted he's sick of seeing the Bombers in the Grey Cup.
"I don't feel like an underdog, I've never felt like an underdog," Milligan Jr. said. "To be the best, you have to beat the best and they've been the best. It's always fun playing against those guys and have the opportunity to knock them off, that's what we're going to do."
The Roughriders take on the Bombers in the West Final on Saturday. Countdown to Kick-off begins with Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 2:30 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder join at 4:30 p.m. with the kick-off to follow at 5:30 p.m. on the Co-operators Roughrider Radio Network.
