Riders QB Harris confident his best football is still ahead in 14th CFL season

REGINA — After defeating the Montreal Alouettes 25-16 in November to capture the fourth Grey Cup in franchise history, the Saskatchewan Roughriders capped off their celebration with an epic victory parade through downtown Regina.

Head coach Corey Mace then turned the page on the championship, instructing his players to commit fully to the 2026 season.

“We get paid to play winning football,” the 2025 coach of the year said. “I think the only thing that you can really take from last year is we have proof that our recipe works.

“That’s just part of who we are, who we wanted to become, part of who we are now. It’s the new foundation of where we started in ’24. Other than that, we’ve got lots of work to do.”

Quarterback Trevor Harris, who was named the Grey Cup MVP, understands Mace’s mindset.

“To be completely honest, there’s a lot of people who say, ‘They’re just saying that’s in the past, it’s not 2025 anymore,'” said Harris.

“It’s a new season and we get the opportunity to be better this year and do it better. Why wouldn’t we take the lessons we learned, whether you win, lose, draw, whatever it is, and use it as springboard forward and get better?”

The Riders are 21-14-1 in two seasons under Mace, finishing second in the West in 2024 with a 9-8-1 record and following up with a first-place finish last year with a 12-6 mark.

Eight Riders were named to the CFL all-star team in 2025 — centre Logan Ferland, offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick, guard Jacob Brammer, defensive tackle Micah Johnson, linebacker Jameer Thurman, linebacker C.J. Reavis, defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. and cornerback Tevaughn Campbell.

Six of the eight, including Hardrick, the 2025 CFL most outstanding offensive lineman, are returning. Reavis signed with the Ottawa Redblacks in the off-season as a free agent while Johnson retired and accepted the role of defensive line coach for the Riders.

Although Saskatchewan lost a number of players in the off-season, a large core from the Grey Cup-winning roster has returned. The defence, which allowed the fewest points per game last season (22.7), will be led by Milligan, Thurman and Campbell while the offence will be powered by Harris, Ferland, Brammer, running back A.J. Ouellette and receivers Samuel Emilus, Kian Schaffer-Baker and KeeSean Johnson.

Harris, who turned 40 on May 31, is entering his third season with the Riders and is coming off a campaign that saw him complete 348 of 473 passes for 4,549 yards with 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Named the team’s outstanding player, Harris set a franchise record for single season completion percentage at 73.6 per cent.

Harris is confident that he can still play at a high level entering his 14th CFL season.

“I just want to be the best version of myself . . . I’ve told people this, and I’m not like blowing smoke but I honestly believe my best football is in front of me. I think my best football is right here in front of me, and we’ve got the offensive co-ordinator, the personnel and the people to do it, and so I think it’s time to raise the bar even higher,” said Harris.

The Riders split their two pre-season games, losing 20-15 to the Calgary Stampeders on May 18 before defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 31-27 on May 23. Harris played just one series in the pre-season — a five-play, 86-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown against the Bombers.

With the Riders having a bye in Week 1 of the regular season, they face a gap of 21 days between their last pre-season contest and their opening game against the B.C. Lions on June 13 in Regina.

Harris sees the challenge of the schedule but also feels the Riders can use the additional time to their advantage.

“I wish the CFL could have done something about giving us five days between games one and two, and then three weeks off. You do pre-season stuff to get in rhythm and then this happens,” Harris said. “But the schedule is going to be great. We have no complaints about it. On the flip side, we get plenty of time to work on ourselves to make sure we’re refining and fine tuning everything that we can heading into the first game of the regular season.

“It does give us a little bit more time just to focus in on ourselves and focus in on install, the things that we want to get good at and finding our identity more and more every day. So, there are some positives to it.”

SEASON SNAPSHOT

2025 record: 12-6, first, West Division

Did you know? After winning the 2025 CFL championship, the Riders took the Grey Cup on a tour of the province. Beginning on Feb. 7 in Humboldt and concluding on April 19 at the First Nations University of Canada Spring Powwow in Regina, the tour stopped at 37 communities in 71 days.

Key additions: LB James Vaughters (Winnipeg), LB Tyron Vrede (Ottawa), DL Devin Adams (Winnipeg).

Key losses: LB A.J. Allen (Ottawa), DL Habakkuk Baldonado (Ottawa), DL Charbel Dabire (Hamilton), DL Malik Carney (Edmonton), DL Micah Johnson (retired), QB Jake Maier (Ottawa), WR Dohnte Meyers (Cincinnati NFL), DB C.J. Reavis (Ottawa), WR Joe Robustelli (Edmonton), K Brett Lauther (Ottawa) and WR Tommy Nield (Winnipeg).

Players to watch: DB Rolan Milligan Jr., WR KeeSean Johnson, LB Jameer Thurman and LB Antoine Brooks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2026.


Jeff DeDekker, The Canadian Press