The Saskatchewan Roughriders are third place in the West Division with a 5-7-1 record and head coach Corey Mace knows his team's remaining games are vital for a playoff push.
"Boy, do we got a lot of important games coming up," Mace said. It's going to be quite a Western run."
There are five games left on the Riders schedule with four against Western teams, such as the Calgary Stampeders, whom the Green and White play twice, the Edmonton Elks, and the B.C. Lions.
It's Mace's first year as a bench boss in Riderville. He was a defensive line coach for the Stamps from 2016-2021. Then later went to Toronto as the defensive coordinator for two years. From his time as an assistant turned head coach, Mace feels it's necessary for his staff to strategize during the bye week, especially during a seven-game winless streak.
"We ripped off 10 straight," Mace said. There are many different faces that we've looked at in that locker room at the end of a game. We find ourselves in situations to actually go win the games; we gotta tighten it up."
Week 4 was the Riders first bye week this season. Saskatchewan was undefeated with three wins. After the team came back, the Riders played 10 straight games and produced a 2-7-1 record. During this bye week, Mace and his coaching staff are preparing for the stretch run.
"Schematically, as coaches, we do a bunch of self-scouting. How we want to attack or how we're getting attacked differently that we might not see when you're game-planning," Mace said.
"We still can't find a way to get over the hump, but the bond is strong in the room. The guys, I think, believe they can still get the job done. If we come out of the bye week, we start piecing it together, we get hot, everybody in the West is in front of us -- we can go ahead and try to push ourselves into the playoffs."
The Roughriders next game is Friday, September 20, when the team travels to Calgary to take on the Stampeders. Countdown to Kickoff starts at 4:30 p.m., with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. live on 620 CKRM. Saskatchewan tries to snap its current 0-6-1 winless streak at McMahon Stadium.
