Linebacker Joe Lobendahn during practice at Mosaic Stadium.  (photo courtesy of newstalk980.com)

The Saskatchewan Roughriders got a big boost last week with the addition of middle linebacker Joe Lobendahn, who was a force inside for the Green and White during their 52-0 win over Winnipeg in the Labour Day Classic.

Lobendahn was released by the Calgary Stampeders after training camp this year and sat out until getting the call from the Riders last week, so sfter not playing all season, Lobendahn says there was some rust to shake off at first, but it didn't last long.

"Everybody has been playing for eight weeks and I'm just coming in," said Lobendahn. "As far as picking up the defence, it was pretty easy, but the only thing was the conditioning and running around with the guys and just getting my lungs under me."

Lobendahn finished the game tied for the team lead in tackles with four and disrupted many of the Blue Bombers rushing attempts.

Head coach Corey Chamblin says he liked what he saw out of the five-year CFL vet in his first start in Green & White, "Lobendahn did some good things for us.  You could just see the veteran presence in there, he knows how to play ball."

Despite the solid performance in his Saskatchewan debut, Lobendahn says he's not satisfied, "Every week I strive to be better, there's no going backwards for me.  There's always work to be done, different things to work on."

After the beating laid on the Blue Bombers last week, Lobendahn says they can't go into Canad Inns Stadium expecting to see the same team in the Banjo Bowl, "We've just got to be prepared for anything to happen on the field and we just need to do our job.  We shouldn't be worrying about what they're doing, we should just worry about what we have to do."

The Riders and Bombers square off in the Banjo Bowl on Sunday.   Kick off is at 11:00am.

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