Saskatchewan Roughriders' running back A.J. Ouellette knows exactly how he's going to spend his bye week.
"Chilling for the first couple of days. I'm gonna hang out here, watch a little bit of film, recover. Then we're gonna go on a little cabin trip with a couple of the guys, three hours northeast of here, still in Saskatchewan, not Manitoba," Ouellette said on the 620 CKRM Rider Broadcast Network post-game show. "Gonna enjoy some of the land. Hopefully, there's a lake around there, I'm not too sure about the area yet, fishing or hunting maybe."
The last time the Riders were on a bye week, Ouellette met two-time Olympic silver medallist Elvis Stojko. Prior to the current bye week, Saskatchewan lost against the Montreal Alouettes 48-31. Ouellette finished the rainy game with 16 carries for 90 yards and one touchdown.
"I felt like we could have established the run a little bit better at the beginning," Ouellette said. "The first run went for one yard or whatever, so I got to do better on offence to keep the defence guessing what we're gonna do at the beginning."
Ouellette shared some suggestions when asked about how the Riders can avoid a slow start similar to what happened against Montreal and in other games this season.
"We've got to start off with the energy that we need," Ouellette explained. "I think getting a little bit more team play there during warm-up [could have helped], getting everybody accustomed to the physicality and the hits and all that. Once we get rolling, we're good."
There are five games are remaining on the Green and White's schedule. The Roughriders have clinched a playoff spot, but Ouellette knows the team cannot be complacent with a 10-3 record.
"Building confidence as a team. You want to go into the playoffs playing your best football," Ouellette said. "We don't want to peak too early, so we want to continue improving, one week at a time."
Overall, Ouellette has started 13 games for Saskatchewan, rushing 185 times for 942 yards and six touchdowns. Statistically, he has an opportunity to surpass his best season in the CFL, which came with the Toronto Argonauts in 2023 when he ran for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Green and White return to action travelling to Edmonton to take on the Elks on Saturday, September 27. Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk, and Wes Cates have the pre-game show at 2 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 5 p.m. Listen to our comprehensive coverage on 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
