They're atop the West Division standings and are the CFL's only undefeated team.
But it seems the more the Saskatchewan Roughriders win, the more injuries they have to deal with.
The defending Grey Cup champions improved to 6-0 last week with a close 22-21 road win over the Calgary Stampeders. But the Riders also lost four more players to injury, including receivers Matt Dominguez (knee) and Carl Berman (Achilles tendon) and fullback Neal Hughes (leg).
That's over and above having lost the likes of quarterbacks Marcus Crandell and Darian Durant, receivers D.J. Flick, Andy Fantuz, Weston Dressler, defensive lineman John Chick, defensive back James Johnson and cornerback Leron Mitchell to injury during the course of the year.
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And the Riders could be without receiver Corey Grant. His wife, Jennifer, is pregnant with the couple's first child. Her due date is Wednesday and Grant has permission from the team to leave to be with his wife if she goes into labour before Thursday's rematch with Calgary at Mosaic Stadium.
"It's an exciting time for him to be a parent for the first time," first-year head coach Ken Miller said. "To be a dad, it's a special situation."
If Grant leaves before Thursday's contest, Miller said the Riders will probably go a receiver short and add another Canadian lineman.
The abundance of injuries certainly makes it difficult to create chemistry when the lineup is constantly changing. However, Miller has done a nice job of keeping his team focussed on winning and not its ever-growing injured list.
"We certainly have had our work cut out for us," Miller said. "With the depth that we have we've been able to piece it together.
"Fortunately, getting some people back from their injury has helped us in that regard."
Nowhere is that more evident than at quarterback. When Durant went down with injured ribs two weeks ago against Toronto, No. 3 Steven Jyles stepped in and did a decent job in leading the Riders to victory.
Then last week against Calgary, Crandell returned under centre having recovered from a hamstring injury. Crandell, given the starting job with the off-season departure of Kerry Joseph to the Toronto Argonauts, was 17-of-36 passing for 225 yards and two touchdowns against Calgary.
Dominguez was having a stellar game, registering four catches for 104 yards and a TD before he was injured.
The good news, though, is the Riders should get some of their walking wounded back soon. Both Johnson and Dressler resumed practising this week and could play Thursday.
But a constant for the Riders has been running back Wes Cates.
Cates ran for 139 yards on 18 carries to boost his league-leading rushing total to 632 yards. Cates, acquired prior to last season from Calgary, is averaging over six yards a carry and has scored seven touchdowns while fumbling just once in 102 carries.
Cates has been a big reason why Saskatchewan's offence, despite the abundance of injuries, has managed quite nicely this season. The Riders are ranked fourth in total yards (379 per game) and second overall in rushing (142 yards per game).
But just as impressive has been the play of Saskatchewan's defence.
The unit is the CFL's stingiest, allowing 335 total yards and 21.5 points per game, both league lows. The Riders are allowing just 80 yards rushing per game and are second in overall pass defence (270 yards per game) despite being last in the CFL in sacks with eight.
Still, the burning question that remains is have the Riders' injury woes finally caught up to them?
"We will never use injuries as an excuse for anything," Miller said. "We're going to go into this game expecting and planning with positive expectancy to win the game."
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MATT'S FUTURE — There are concerns in Regina for the future of receiver Matt Dominguez.
He suffered a knee injury in last weekend's 22-21 win over Calgary. Trouble is, Dominguez injured his left knee, which he has had difficulty with before. In fact, Dominguez was leading the CFL in receiving last year when torn ligaments in his left knee ended his season.
In 2005, the six-foot-two, 220-pound Dominguez suffered torn knee ligaments and was lost for the season after two games.
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OUTSTANDING DORSEY — The offence and defence have both been inconsistent so far this year for the Toronto Argonauts. But the same can't be said for special-teams ace Dominique Dorsey.
The five-foot-seven, 171-pound Dorsey registered a brilliant 94-yard punt return for a touchdown to anchor Toronto's 19-11 home win last week over Winnipeg. Dorsey's TD was the Argos lone one of the contest and his first-ever on special teams.
Dorsey, in his second season with Toronto, leads the CFL in all-purpose yards (1,233), punt returns (28 for 382 yards, 13.6-yard average) and is third in kickoff returns (23 for 515 yards).
He has also returned two missed field goals for 94 yards and has rushed for 179 yards on 28 carries for a sparkling 6.4-yard average per attempt.
"He is in a class all by himself," Argos head coach Rich Stubler said after Friday's game. "If you saw him on the street you would have no idea that he is our running back."
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COE SIGNS — Veteran linebacker Scott Coe is back in the CFL, signing Tuesday with the Edmonton Eskimos.
Coe was released by the Calgary Stampeders on March 19 after four seasons with the club. He had 60 tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles with the Stamps last season.
Earlier this season, Coe worked out with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, where he began his CFL career in 2002.
The Eskimos also announced rookie offensive lineman Adam Rogers, 22, has left the team to return to school. The six-foot-five, 310-pound Rogers was a first-team CIS all-star in 2006 and 2007 while at Acadia.
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NICE MOVE — No one likes to admit being wrong, but kudos to Tom Higgins, the CFL's director of officiating, for coming out and publicly stating the officials working last weekend's Calgary-Saskatchewan game erred in ejecting Stampeders linebacker JoJuan Armour for contacting an official.
While that was of little solace to Calgary, which lost the game 22-21, Higgins' admission means Armour will be eligible to play for the Stampeders in Thursday night's rematch against Saskatchewan in Regina.
As is always the case in football, what's important is that the right call was made.
