Rider Nation will get its first look at the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night when the team faces the Calgary Stampeders to open the preseason schedule.

After two weeks of training camp in Saskatoon, head coach Craig Dickenson said that the Riders are ready to square off with a different opponent.

"You could sense that the last few days, tempers were a little short, guys are getting tired of each other, coaches were probably getting tired of seeing them and they're tired of seeing us, so it will be nice to play a team in different colours and get a chance to go through a game and the grind and conditioning that’s going to be involved," Dickenson told the media in Calgary on Thursday.

A long list of veterans won't be in the lineup for the Riders in the preseason opener, including starting quarterback Zach Collaros with Cody Fajardo making his first start with the Riders.

Dickenson said the Riders aren't focusing on the final score but how they get there.

"We want our guys to go out and compete and what the score is at the end isn't a big deal for us," said Dickenson. "We certainly come to play hard, compete and want to win, but that's not the ultimate goal, we want to make sure that we come out it healthy, one, and then two, we want to see who our young guys are and who's going to rise to the top."

The Riders and Stampeders kick-off at 7 p.m.