Labour Day weekend preview: Roughriders and Tiger-Cats hope to bounce back
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Labour Day weekend has arrived with three games in two days in Week 13 action on TSN.
The festivities begin on Sunday when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers travel to take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Then, a Monday doubleheader kicks off with the Toronto Argonauts heading down the highway to take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, before the Calgary Stampeders play host to their Alberta counterparts Edmonton Elks.
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Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders
Labour Day weekend action begins Sunday with the 8-2 Roughriders hosting the 6-4 Blue Bombers.
The first half of the classic home-and-home series between the two clubs has historically gone Saskatchewan’s way, but recently it’s been all Winnipeg.
The Riders are 34-19 all-time in the Labour Day matchup against the Blue Bombers, though the latter have won three of the past four games, including last year’s matinee.
The Stampeders are the only team that has beaten the 8-2 Riders this season, but the Bombers will look to make it a second behind former Riders quarterback Zach Collaros.
The 37-year-old pivot is coming off a career-high performance in Week 12’s win over the Montreal Alouettes where he completed 87.1 per cent of his passes (27-of-31).
It hasn’t been a perfect year by any means for Collaros, leading the CFL in interceptions (10) and only throwing 10 touchdowns, but the Bombers' veteran ranks third among qualified passers with a 75.3 per cent completion rate.
Winnipeg’s receiving core will be almost completely different in this one than it has been all season as former Rider Jerreth Sterns hit the one-game injured list while fellow former Rider Nic Demski was a limited participant in the team’s first practice session of the week, after taking a hard-hit in Week 12. In wake of the news, the Bombers signed, you guessed it, a former Rider in Kyran Moore, while the trusty Dalton Schoen is in line to make his return from the six-game injured list.
They’ll be in tough against a Saskatchewan defensive unit that has been elite all season long. The Roughriders find themselves in the top two in a bunch of defensive categories, including points allowed, net offensive yards allowed, rush yards allowed, big plays allowed, sacks, and interceptions.
With Trevor Harris, A.J. Ouellette, and KeeSean Johnson on the other side of the ball, this game in front of a sold-out crowd in Regina should be a fun one.
Argonauts vs. Tiger-Cats
The first of two games on Monday features the 3-8 Argonauts travelling to take on the 6-4 Tiger-Cats fresh off a bye.
The Argonauts arguably kept their season alive last week in a dominant offensive performance in their 52-34 win over the BC Lions, putting up the most points any team has in a single game in 2025 along the way.
That win snapped a three-game losing streak, and it was largely thanks to the play of quarterback Nick Arbuckle.
The 31-year-old put up a career-high 430 passing yards against BC, which put him in the league lead with 3,463 yards, which is also a career high. Arbuckle has also topped 300 passing yards in five consecutive games, with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions over that span.
Though star wideout Damonte Coxie has hit the six-game injured list, the team has brought in some reinforcements in Makai Polk.
The 24-year-old led the Argos in all three major receiving categories in 2024, hauling in 61 passes for 1,024 yards and five touchdowns en route to an East All-CFL nomination.
Arbuckle and the offence weren’t the problem when these teams matched up in Week 4, however, as the Argos put up 38 points. The problem for Toronto was that they allowed the second most total points in a game this year, giving up 51 to Hamilton’s potent offence.
Bo Levi Mitchell and Kenny Lawler were electric in that one. Mitchell finished the game with 332 passing yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions, while Lawler made an absurd six catches for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
Mitchell, Lawler, and the rest of the East Division-leading Tiger-Cats come into this one fresh off a bye week as they look to regroup following their disastrous Week 11 loss to the Riders.
It was the second straight loss for the team, after allowing more than 900 total yards of offence combined last game against the Roughriders and against the BC Lions in Week 10.
The good news for Ticats fans is that Hamilton has fared well on Labour Day throughout the years, holding a 33-13 all-time record against the Argos while winning 10 of the past 13 contests.
Whichever defence can figure it out first could be the difference, as the dynamic duo of Mitchell and Lawler stand opposite of Arbuckle and the rest of the Argos’ offence.
Elks vs. Stampeders
Wrapping up Labour Day weekend is the Alberta showdown as the 7-3 Stampeders play host to the 4-6 Elks.
The final game of the always entertaining Labour Day weekend ends out west between one of the league’s best Stampeders and the red-hot Elks. Edmonton comes into Labour Day rolling, having won three games in a row.
The catalyst, of course, has been quarterback Cody Fajardo.
Over the last five weeks as a starter, Fajardo has completed 77.4 per cent of his passes thrown for 1,435 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. The 33-year-old has stepped into the lineup and sprayed the ball across the field to Edmonton’s young receiving core efficiently, while also getting running back Justin Rankin more involved.
Over the last four games, the 28-year-old Rankin has put up 494 yards from scrimmage with four touchdowns, while on the year he leads all running backs north of the border in total receiving yards (485) by a wide margin.
Fajardo, Rankin, and the rest of the Elks’ offence will be going up against a dominant defence in Calgary, however, who have also dominated this Labour Day matchup recently.
The Stampeders have won 10 of the past 12 matchups and come into this one firing on all cylinders.
Defensively, Calgary allows the lowest number of points allowed per game (20.7), the lowest amount of total big plays (18), and have allowed the second fewest net offensive yards (3,568).
How the Elks deal with the Stamps’ defensive line that features standouts in Jaylon Hutchings, Clarence Hicks, and Folarin Orimolade could determine this one as Edmonton has allowed the most sacks in the CFL.
Edmonton’s defence will also have to slow down one of the Most Outstanding Player candidates in Vernon Adams Jr., who has led the Stampeders to a 7-1 record when he plays wire to wire.