REGINA -- With the way things had been going throughout the 2025 Canadian Football League season, it seemed like it was only a matter of time, but now it’s finally official: the Saskatchewan Roughriders have clinched the West Division regular season title.
The Riders battled to a 27-19 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium, improving to 12-4 and moving at least three wins clear of every team in the division with two games remaining in the regular season.
As a result, Saskatchewan has clinched top spot in the West for the first time since 2019, will receive a bye through the first round of the playoffs and -- most importantly -- will host the West Final on Saturday, November 8.
“I'm really proud of these guys,” head coach Corey Mace said on the Rider Broadcast Network postgame show. “It’s not easy to win a game. For these guys to come together, be able to put ourselves in this situation and have the West Final come through Regina to allow our incredible fan base to show up and show out, I think it's awesome for everybody in Saskatchewan. So we hope our fan base is proud, we're certainly proud of each other in here.”
While the Riders had a few hiccups in the contest, the season-long bend-but-don’t-break style once again worked in their favour, especially with how they were able to come up with big plays on both sides of the ball.
Receiver Sam Emilus had one of those right off the hop, hauling in a three-yard pass and rumbling 50 yards to set up Saskatchewan’s first major of the game. Joe Robustelli -- making his return to the line-up after missing the previous three games -- scored that touchdown five minutes into the game and the Riders would hold the lead the rest of the game.
Emilus ended up with a season-best six catches for 142 yards, including a leaping sideline catch over top of an Argos defender for 24 yards late in the first half and a 44-yard catch down the sideline in the fourth quarter.
Mace was impressed with what he saw from his four-year veteran and the entire receiving group, especially with big plays at the right times.
“Our entire receiving corps was awesome tonight,” he said. “The catch Sam made going over the guy's helmet, [Kian Schaffer-Baker] made a couple of big plays, it was incredible. I know our receiver room is incredibly deep, I think our Canadian content position is incredibly deep. Really good football players, period.”
Then there was kicker Brett Lauther, who made what one could call a triumphant return to the line-up. After missing the previous game with tightness in his back, Lauther went five-for-five on field goals and has now made 14 of his last 16 attempts after going through some mid-season struggles.
“For him to be able to put it together like that tonight, specifically in a wind game like this, I'll tell you what, there were three game balls that went out and the locker room went crazy when Brett got his,” Mace said. “So that should tell you enough about how everybody feels about him and his performance.”
While the defence didn’t have an inordinate amount of sacks or crazy number of interceptions, they found a way to get things done all night, holding the Toronto offence to 283 total yards. Linebacker A.J. Allen had one of the biggest plays with a pick as the Argos attempted to drive for a potential game-tying score and was quick to give credit to the entire defensive crew for their performance.
“It felt incredible, man,” Allen said. “To have a season like this, all of us together, it's insane to me. I mean, I've been here since we've been six-and-twelve, so it feels incredible. Couldn't do it without my dogs, though, I couldn't do this without everybody, so it feels amazing.”
While there are still two games remaining in the regular season, the team has reached one of their biggest goals. The key now will be to stay as healthy as possible the rest of the way and get ready for what they now know for certain will be the biggest game of the season outside of the Grey Cup.
“That was one of the goals that we put at the beginning of the season, building up on what we did last season,” Emilus said. “That was a goal and we made it happen. Now, like we say in the locker room, we're just getting started.”
The Roughriders are back in action on Friday, October 17 when Saskatchewan faces the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg with kick-off at 6 p.m. from Princess Auto Stadium.
