QB Darian Durant leads the Riders against Calgary on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium. (photo courtesy of riderville.com)

 

It’s been said before and I’ll say it again, life is better in Saskatchewan following a Roughriders win and Rider Nation has been in a good mood all week long after the Green & White’s 27-24 win over the Montreal Alouettes in Week 4.

After looking mediocre to say the least in three season opening losses, the Riders offence finally found a groove last Sunday at Percival Molson Stadium, connecting for big plays and keeping the Als defence off-balance all game long.

Quarterback Darian Durant seemed more comfortable during the game, rolling out and scrambling more then he had in the first three weeks combined.

“Just looking at the film from the past couple of games, I saw some opportunities that I passed up that I could have used my legs a little bit more and we needed this win bad and I was going to do everything possible to get it,” said Durant following Sunday’s game.

Durant led the Riders on ground against Montreal, rushing for 71 yards on just seven carries.

He says he was just doing whatever it took to win the game, “If that meant running, sacrificing my body a little bit to get it, then so be it, and it worked out for us.”

Something that was missing from the Riders offence from Week 1 to 3, was the big play, which the Riders lived off of during the 2010 season.  Slotback Weston Dressler says they needed the spark from his 75-yard TD catch, “It definitely creates momentum for a team and we just kind of fed off of it.

“We ran a little setup play on it early, I think it was a drive or two before that, and Darian and I talked about it and said we thought it was going to be there and he threw a great ball and we were able to get the touchdown.”

“I felt like we had a great game plan going in.  The main thing you want to do against Montreal is control the ball and mix it up and that consisted of me running, play-action and making sure everyone gets involved and I think we did a good job of that,” added Durant.

The Riders will start building their game plan for Week 5 on Wednesday when they return to the practice field at Mosaic Stadium.  Saskatchewan hosts the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday at 7:30pm.

 

In other CFL news...

 

The Canadian Football community is mourning the loss of Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive line and assistant head coach Richard Harris on Tuesday.

 

Harris passed away after collapsing at Canad Inns Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.  He was rushed to hospital, but was pronounced dead. 

 

"This has struck our enitre organization from the top down," said Blue Bomber president Jim Bell in a media release.  "We are all in a state of shock and first and foremost would like to express our deepest sympathies to his family.  The Winnipeg Football Club has lost not only a great coach, but an even better man."

 

Harris joined the Bombers in 2006 as their defensive line coach and was appointed assistant head coach prior to the start of this season.

 

Winnipeg hosts BC on Thursday night.