Another former third overall pick in the NFL Draft is coming to Saskatchewan.

The Roughriders inked running back Trent Richardson on Tuesday as the former NCAA standout looks to resurrect his football career in the Canadian Football League.

“It feels good to be back on the field and around a group of guys,” said Richardson following his first practice with the Riders on Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium.

Richardson was originally rumoured to be on his way to Saskatchewan earlier this season, but then reports out of Alabama had him staying put due to the CFL’s contract structure.

Riders head coach Chris Jones did some more recruiting and Richardson finally decided to commit this week.

“I’ve been talking to Coach Chris Jones for a long time and I’ve really got to know him over the last few weeks and he got to hear what I have to offer and (I’m looking) for him to help me to be a better parent and motivator to myself and he’s the guy to lead me in that direction,” said Richardson.

Unlike the failed experiment with Vince Young during training camp, Richardson is right in the prime of his football career at just 27 years old.

Richardson put together an unbelievable junior season with the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, rushing for a school-record 1,679 yards and 21 touchdowns as they won the BCS National Championship.

After being selected by the Cleveland Browns with the third overall pick in 2012, Richardson put together a strong rookie season, finishing with 950 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The Browns traded Richardson to Indianapolis two games into his sophomore campaign and just one season later, he was out of football.  He rushed for 2,032 yards and 17 touchdowns in 46 career NFL games.

Jones is confident that Richardson can rediscover the form that he had with Alabama.

“He’s 27 years old and he’s a pretty good athlete, and from the people that we got videos from down in Alabama, he’s in tremendous shape, so we’ll see,” said Jones.

“He’s a high profile guy that played a very high profile school and he played at a high level then he was drafted at a high level and he’s a guy that’s a good football player.”

Since being released by the Colts in 2015, Richardson has spent a short time with the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens, but he hasn’t played in a football game since the 2014 season.

Richardson doesn’t know a lot about the CFL outside the bigger field, but he expects to be ready to go quickly.

“You put a pigskin in my hand and I’m ready to run, ready to go and do what I do best, get in the end zone and run somebody over,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m here to play football and I don’t know if there’s much to get use to outside playing football.”

Richardson added that his kids have kept him young and motivated during his time away from the game, and he’s ready to get back on the field and show that he still has something left in the tank.

“Being around my kids, being around people that love me, I really owe it a lot to them for motivating me and bringing me back spiritually and just letting me know don’t give up on your dream,” said Richardson.

“I’ve always that itch (to get back on the field), it was at the point where I had the itch so bad that I had to stop watching football. I always had that itch when it come to wanting to be on the field.”

With Cameron Marshall on the six-game injured list and the Riders’ running game struggling last week against Calgary, there could be a rush to get Richardson on the field.

After being out of the game for such an extended period, it will no doubt take Richardson some time to get back up to speed. Jones ruled him out for Friday’s game in Ottawa and said they will gauge how he progresses.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time with him over the next couple of days, we’re going to condition him — I just talked to our strength and conditioning coach and we’re going to condition him everyday to see exactly what type of CFL conditioning he’s in and then we’ll go from there,” said Jones.

“A lot of NFL guys come through that weren’t able to make it. Until you see what kind of shape they’re in and see how much commitment they have to our game and our football team and then not only that, they’ve got to get on the field and perform.”