The Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions square off at Mosaic Stadium earlier this season.

Two West Division foes are set to square off with a lot to lose in this early season matchup.  

It’s going to be a battle at BC Place on Sunday night when the 5-2 Saskatchewan Roughriders enter the Lions’ den to take on the 5-3 BC Lions for the second time this season.

The first meeting of the season didn’t go the way of the Green and White, but they have turned their season around since then, winning four straight games heading into Vancouver.  The Lions enter on a three-game winning streak.

“It’s going to be a good game,” said head coach Corey Chamblin.  “Two good football teams out playing a very intense game.”

If the rivalry between the two teams needed any more fuel added to the fire, the intensity for the game ratcheted up a notch this week with some trash talk and a guarantee coming from the BC side.

The Riders weren’t biting on the talk, but they expected that to only add to what should be a very hard fought game between two teams built around their defences and running games.

“I expect a dog fight honestly,” said quarterback Darian Durant.  “If you look at tradition (BC Place) has always been a tough place to play for whoever comes in there.  It’s going to be a slugfest from beginning to the end.”

When the Lions went into Regina and knocked off the Riders 26-13 in Week 3, they did so by running it down the Riders’ defence throat.  Andrew Harris ran for 138 yards and BC finished with 186 rushing yards in the win.

That’s not something that’s lost on the Riders’ defenders heading into this week’s game.

“We’ve been talking about that from game one,” said defensive end Ricky Foley.  “We take that 186 yards as much disrespect as we do the guarantee.  We’ve got to stop Logan and Harris.”

Logan ran for 145 yards last week against Toronto, so the Riders will have to worry about stopping both players if they hope to come out on top.  

The good news for Saskatchewan is that they haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher since that loss to BC and in fact haven’t allowed any single player to rush for 50 yards in the past four weeks.

“We’re just a different team after that bye week,” said Foley.  “We’ve got things sorted out.”

Foley pointed to their practice and meeting preparation throughout the week leading up to games that has been the biggest change for the team as they’ve turned their season around.

Offensively, there’s still something to be desired out of the Riders as they’ve had to grind out wins over the past two weeks, but they’ve also went over two games without a turnover.

“It’s all about the team that makes the fewest mistakes, who can take care of the ball and do all the fundamental things right — make tackles, get off of blocks, make blocks — is going to be the team that comes out on top,” said Durant.

For the last four weeks, that’s been the Riders.  The offence hasn’t been outstanding, but they’ve came through when they had to, like last week’s fourth quarter touchdown pass from Durant to Rob Bagg.  

The offensive line is going to be key against the Lions as they sport one of the best front sevens in the CFL, led by Solomon Elimimian, Adam Bighill and Khalif Mitchell.

“You need all 12 guys to be on the same page,” said offensive guard Brendon LaBatte.  “Everybody needs to be finishing their blocks right to the whistle and that will help us out a bit.

“Anytime you play BC, from our perspective on the offensive line, we know it’s going to be a real physical game with their defensive line, they’ve got some big bodies in there.

“There’s a respect between the two teams, but I also think that when it comes down to it and the game is in the balance, you’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to get that win.”

The Riders go for their fifth straight win at 5:00pm on Sunday night.  For more on the game, head to the Rider Report on DiscoverMooseJaw.com.

GAME NOTES… Chad Kilgore will make his first start of the season at middle linebacker with Sam Hurl headed to the one-game injured list… Running back Anthony Allen makes his return to the lineup this week with Jerome Messam out with an injury and fullback Spencer Moore headed to the six-game injured list… Kevin Glenn will make the start for BC, but Travis Lulay could see some action.