Saskatchewan Roughriders’ new 3rd-string quarterback

SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan Roughriders first pre-season game is in the books, as are the team’s first round of cuts. Saturday’s game loss to the Edmonton Eskimos led to some difficult decisions for the Riders’ coaching staff and they are only to get tougher as the regular season nears.

The Riders released 11 players Sunday night including third-year quarterback Tino Sunseri.

The man who beat out Sunseri for the third-string job is Brett Smith, who rose to the occasion in Saturday’s pre-season game.

READ MORE: Riders release quarterback Tino Sunseri

“You go into every week knowing that your job is on the line,” said Smith, at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon Monday.

“I’ve already been there a couple times in my career thus far so, going into each game I felt that but I wasn’t trying to think about that, I just wanted to play well.”

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Darian Durant, who was seeing his first game action since his Banjo Bowl injury last year, admitted he sees a little of his younger self in Smith and commended the 23-year-old for seizing the moment.

“He just went out there and made plays,” said Durant.

“He calls me ‘old school’ and that’s crazy but he said ‘man give me a little bit of advice before I go out on the field’ and I said ‘you know what young buck, just go make plays,,’ you know that’s exactly how you can open the coaches eyes.”

“He has a little Brett Favre gunslinger in him, he’s going to run around, he’s going to do those types of things, he’s a very amped up type player so he did some good things,” said head coach Corey Chamblin.

The Riders new third-string quarterback has taken a difficult road to get to this point — declaring early for the 2014 NFL Draft, only to be passed over.

He’s been cut by both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Toronto Argonauts in his young career.

Before arriving in Saskatoon for training camp, the former Wyoming Cowboy was working as a bartender and at his grandfather’s vineyard.

“I think as a player you need to experience that as I’ve gone through it, although it was tough at the time, I embrace it now and I’m glad I went through it, I think it’s only made me stronger and a better football player,” said Smith.

He now turns his attention to Friday’s pre-season finale, where he will look to solidify his spot on the Riders roster for the 2015 season.

What about the team’s undisputed number one quarterback?

Durant, 32, completed four of eight passes for 42 yards, got hit a few times and came out of the game healthy and ready for the second preseason game.

“I feel like the mental hurdles were gone, I mean I knew my arm was strong. It was all about getting out there, falling on it, taking a hit and making sure that it held up and doctors they assure you that it will be fine but until you hit the ground … it gives you that feeling of security,” said Durant.

The Roughriders host the Calgary Stampeders next on Friday at Mosaic Stadium.

Kim Thue contributed to this story