Lions look to clinch second in CFL West in regular-season finale against Riders

REGINA – The B.C. Lions have an opportunity to clinch second place in the CFL’s West Division, and they’d prefer to do it without help.

Currently tied with the Calgary Stampeders for second place at 10-7, the Lions can clinch home field for the West semifinal on Nov. 1 by beating the first-place Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday in Regina.

B.C. could also grab second spot if the Stampeders, playing in Edmonton on Friday night, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, hosting the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday afternoon, both lose their games.

For B.C. quarterback Nathan Rourke, the preferred option is having the Lions take care of business Saturday.

“Absolutely, we want to win the game. We understand that there’s meaningful consequences to the game and we would much rather have another game in B.C. Place in front of our fans and in our environment then go somewhere else,” Rourke said.

“It’s hard to play everywhere else in this league, especially the teams that are still in it, so we’d rather avoid that. I’m glad that we have we control of our own destiny at this point.”

The Lions had some issues early, starting off 1-3 and holding a 3-5 mark heading into July. B.C. has righted the ship and is currently on a five-game winning streak.

“We certainly have confidence and belief in ourselves. We’ve had that since Day 1, even when it wasn’t as obvious maybe to other people,” Rourke said. “We’re going to continue to understand that we’re still trying to get better every single week. We want to take care of our business one week at a time, and I think the cards are going to fall in our favour.”

Rourke enters Saturday’s game with an opportunity to become just the second Canadian quarterback to lead the CFL in passing. Russ Jackson of the Ottawa Rough Riders led the league with 3,641 yards in 1969.

Rourke currently sits at 4,922 passing yards, 110 yards behind Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Rourke is 329 of 472 passing with 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He also is the top quarterback and eighth overall in the league with 559 rushing yards.

Riders head coach Corey Mace said there are a number of reasons for Rourke putting up big numbers this season.

“Being in a new system with (head coach) Buck (Pierce), just getting more comfortable in the system, he’s able to go out there and process,” Mace said.

“He can make all the throws. He makes a lot of really good decisions. I’d say this year he’s kind of opened it up a little bit with his legs, which watching his college stuff he was able to do that all the time. It’s not that it’s a secret, but I think just confirms he’s a hell of a football player.”

While the Lions have motivation for Saturday’s game, the Riders are in a different position after clinching first-place in the West Division two weeks ago. In last week’s 17-16 loss to the Bombers, Mace rested a number of starters in advance of the Riders hosting the West Division final on Nov. 8.

While some starters return to the lineup this week, including quarterback Trevor Harris and running back A.J. Ouellette, Mace is again juggling his roster for Saturday’s game.

Defensive backs Rolan Milligan, C.J. Reavis and Marcus Sayles, receivers KeeSean Johnson, Joe Robustelli and Dohnte Meyers, defensive lineman Mike Rose and kicker Brett Lauther are among those sitting out Saturday.

“We just want to make sure that we’re not too rusty,” Mace said. “A lot of our guys will be playing this week, and it’s good for us. And I mean, we’re paid to play an 18-game schedule, and this is No. 18, so let’s go play.”

This will be the third meeting of the season between the teams. Saskatchewan posted a 37-18 win at home on June 28 and followed up with a 33-27 victory in Vancouver on July 19.

Their first meeting of the season was a battle of the backup quarterbacks with B.C.’s Jeremiah Masoli filling in for Rourke and Saskatchewan’s Jake Maier replacing Harris as both starters were injured.

Rourke and Harris were back under centre for the rematch and both posted impressive numbers. Rourke went 27 of 41 passing for 337 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while Harris completed 23 of 30 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

B.C. LIONS (10-7-0) AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (12-5-0)

Saturday at Mosaic Stadium

LUCKY LEE: Veteran defensive back T.J. Lee rejoined the Lions in mid-September, and the Lions are 5-0 since he returned to the lineup. Lee played the previous 10 seasons with B.C. but was not re-signed after the 2024 season. In five games this year, Lee has 25 tackles and one interception.

ALLEN’S ON A HEATER: Riders linebacker A.J. Allen had a career-high nine defensive tackles against the Bombers last week. He tied for fifth in the CFL in both defensive tackles (84) and defensive plays (106).

HUGHES DEBUT: Riders rookie kicker Michael Hughes will be making his professional debut in place of Lauther, who has been dealing with a back issue. In four collegiate seasons with Appalachian State University, Hughes made 35 of 42 field goal attempts and all 120 of his extra-point attempts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 24, 2025.