Riders eager for Als rematch

There is symmetry to the 2010 CFL season.

It started July 1 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders playing host to the Montreal Alouettes in a replay of the 2009 Grey Cup game that kicked off the regular season. The 2010 season will end on Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium with the Riders and Alouettes meeting in Edmonton in a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup game.

On Sunday, the Riders will appear in their third Grey Cup game in four years. It’s the eighth time in 11 seasons that the Alouettes have reached the Grey Cup. Surprisingly, the Alouettes have won just twice in those eight appearances. The Riders won the 2007 Grey Cup with a 23-19 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Alouettes captured the 2009 Grey Cup by beating the Roughriders 28-27.

A great deal has happened since the 13-man debacle ended the Riders’ chances of winning the team’s fourth Grey Cup in franchise history. The players and coaches emphasize the team is different this year and they have all moved on from that crushing defeat.

"Everyone in the locker-room has put that one behind us," Saskatchewan receiver Chris Getzlaf said after Sunday’s 20-16 win over the host Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final. "We’ve got a new goal this year and that’s to win the Grey Cup."

The Riders feel confident of that taking place after splitting the season series with the Alouettes. On July 1, the Roughriders prevailed 54-51 in double overtime in what could be considered the CFL’s best regular-season game. The Riders felt they helped establish the defensive tone for the season when halfback Lance Frazier intercepted the first pass attempted by Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo. Four plays later, the Riders scored on a 17-yard field goal by Luca Congi.

"We are very familiar with what they like to do," Frazier said Sunday. "We have a chip on our shoulder when it comes to those guys. They are an excellent football team and I’m looking forward to the challenge."

The Riders also overcame a penalty on July 1 in overtime for having too many men on the field after stopping a third-down play by the Alouettes. Two plays later, Montreal’s S.J. Green scored a touchdown and added a two-point convert to tie the game 48-48.

"We had 13 men on the field and we came back to win that game," said Saskatchewan linebacker Tad Kornegay. "We’re over it and everyone else needs to do that too."

On Aug. 9, the Alouettes won 30-26 in Montreal. The Alouettes raced into a 24-10 lead at the half, but the Riders’ defence stiffened in the second half, limiting Montreal to two field goals. Calvillo was 17 of 25 for 252 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He was 4 for 8 in the second half for 23 yards. The Riders lost, but gained from that defensive performance on the road.

"That was the turning point of our season, especially for us defensively," Frazier said. "Positive things happened after that. This season has been one of peaks and valleys and we’ve had our ups and downs, but we found a way to be resilient. We came back from losing four in a row and look, we’re back in the Grey Cup."

"Teams are different, philosophies are different," said slotback Andy Fantuz. "We’re going to watch the film from this year and see what we can do to attack them."

The Riders are to arrive in Edmonton today and hold their first practice at Commonwealth Stadium on Wednesday. Thursday will see the team at the West Division Championship breakfast and Fantuz at the CFL Player Awards, where he is up for the Canadian player-of-the-year trophy.

Miller does not expect the added duties and distractions to cause the focus of the week to stray from football.

"Everyone, I think, wanted this rematch to happen and so did we," said Fantuz. "We’re excited to get another crack at it and it’s going to be a fun game."

The Alouettes (12-6-0) finished first in the East Division. Montreal beat the visiting Toronto Argonauts 48-17 in Sunday’s East Division final. The Roughriders were 10-8-0 in the regular season, good enough for second place in the West Division behind the Stampeders (13-5-0).

The Roughriders defeated the B.C. Lions 41-38 in double overtime on Nov. 14 at Mosaic Stadium in the West semifinal. Sunday’s win over the Stampeders set up the rematch in the Grey Cup and the Riders are looking to atone for what took place in 2009.

"We owe Montreal a little bit," said linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who led the Riders on Sunday with nine defensive tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery on a mishandled punt by Ryan Grice-Mullen in the Riders’ end zone. "We have to bring our A-game for sure. We just know what we have to do to win and we know it’s going to be a lot of work to stop them. We have to get back to the drawing board and work on doing that."