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EDMONTON — Thursday night's matchup between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos will feature two teams desperately hoping to get the stretch runs of their respective seasons off to a good start.
The Eskimos (4-3) will look for a victory against the Canadian Football League's best to propel them out of a three-way tie for second in the West, while the wounded Roughriders (6-1) look to make up for a loss two weeks ago — the only blemish on what has otherwise been a perfect season.
Both teams had byes last week, but the time off did little to solve the Roughriders' swollen injury roster.
"Really, the break needs to be much longer for us to get those broken bones healed," Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller said Wednesday. "We really need more time."
The division-leading Roughriders entered their last game against Calgary with 18 players on its injured list including key starters such as receivers D.J. Flick, Matt Dominguez, and Andy Fantuz and defensive end John Chick.
The team lost that game 30-25 despite a near comeback in the fourth quarter.
Even with the time off, Miller said the biggest name he is expected to have back in the lineup Thursday is defensive back James Johnson.
Roughriders defensive back Eddie Davis credits the team's confidence and the attitude of replacement players with being able to maintain a healthy record.
"I've been doing this for 14 years," said Davis. "I've never seen this many guys hurt on a team and then to still be as successful as we are right now."
Saskatchewan bested Edmonton 34-13 the only other time the two teams met this year.
Thursday's rematch pits the league's stingiest defence — the Riders have allowed only 163 points this season — against the arm of Ricky Ray, who in his last game against B.C. threw for over 400 yards for the fifth time this season.
"They're good at stopping the run and this year they're not giving up very much in the passing game either," said Ray, who is just three touchdown passes away from tying Tracy Ham for second place on the Eskimos' career touchdown passes list.
Eskimos coach Danny Maciocia said one of the keys to winning this game is capitalizing in the red zone, something they failed to do in their last game against the Riders.
In keeping the Roughriders off the scoreboard, Maciocia said they must make them throw the ball and suppress running back Wes Cates, last month's offensive player of the month.
Cates leads the CFL with nine touchdowns, two of which were against Edmonton.
"We know that their offence revolves around Wes Cates," Maciocia said. "We have to find a way to manage what he does out there (Thursday) night."
The Rider defensive plan is perhaps equally as unsurprising.
"The biggest thing is hit him — is to hit Ricky Ray," said Davis. "We need to stop Ricky Ray to stop this team."
Saskatchewan has beat the Eskimos in each of their last four regular season games dating back to last season. But Edmonton has had success against the Riders at Commonwealth Stadium, posting a 33-8-0 record.
Edmonton is currently locked in a West division tie with Calgary and BC. Those two teams play in B.C. on Friday.
