Winners of three straight games and looking to firmly plant their flag among the West Division’s elite class, the BC Lions are back home for a Sunday afternoon affair with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. With the largest crowd of the season to date expected, it has all the makings of a critical matchup to close out Week 12 in the Canadian Football League. The resurgent Lions have turned things around on the heels of a power run game and elite defence that continues to stifle the opposition while the game is on the line. Those elements will need to continue to extend this winning streak to four. With more, we present our 5 Things To Know Game Preview.
Game 10: Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-3) at BC Lions (4-5).
Sunday, August 23.
4:00 pm PT, Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place.
TV: Canada: TSN.
Stream: CFL+ (U.S. International).
This Is Not An Echo: Divisional Implications Beckon
Just like last week in Calgary, there is plenty at stake for a Lions team that has fallen behind the eight ball early in this West Division race. The good news: there is still plenty in front of them. A win for the home team on Sunday pulls them to within two points of Saskatchewan with another huge meeting in only five weeks back here at BC Place. After dropping a tough 31-27 decision in Regina to begin 2026, the Leos would need to win both of these meetings to claim the season series and a possible tiebreaker. It’s a ‘one game at a time’ mindset, but you get the sense that to host a playoff game and potentially finish atop the West, they must take two of three meetings against at least one of the Riders or Stamps. Division-leading Edmonton pulled out a 22-19 victory over Winnipeg on Friday, improving their record to 8-3.
Bully Ball
The emergence of Zander Horvath has been a major storyline in this three-game winning streak. The power back has totalled 355 rushing yards over those victories and twice now been named one of the CFL Players of the Week. That being said, Nathan Rourke and the Lions offence have found an important element to key on for this big matchup. Should they be able to utilize Horvath and James Butler to their advantage, it could prove to be a major X-factor. The Lions entered this week first in the CFL with 116.9 rushing yards per game. As we get closer to the playoffs and the prospect of playing outdoors at the end, that’s an excellent luxury to have.
Pass Rush Looms Large
Veteran quarterback Trevor Harris seems to save his best outings for the Lions. His most recent performance was a 417-passing-yard effort in the season opener, a result where he once again engineered a winning touchdown drive in the final seconds. Harris is also slated to get one of his top targets back in Samuel Emilus. The improved Lions defence enters this week having allowed the least number of net yards per game at 339.2 and the lowest average rushing yards per game at 64.6. With Harris having the ability to get the ball out quickly, the pressure is on this aggressive Lions’ front four to disrupt him and not allow many of those quick releases. The Riders remain without running back A.J. Ouellette due to injury. Rookie Star Thomas is expected to carry the backfield load once again.
Faster Start Is Key
We know what you’re thinking: everybody says they always want to start fast. But one oddity of this current three-game winning streak is the fact that the Lions have not led after the first quarter in any of the games. On the flip side, they’ve outscored the opposition 41-18 in the last three fourth quarters. The late rallies may be exciting for spectators, but as we get into the stretch drive of this season, it will continue to be preached that they must play 60 minutes and set the tone.
What They’re Saying
“It’s more of the same, every team you face. It’s the CFL; every team has good quarterbacks; Trevor being a really good quarterback. It starts by limiting what he can do out there and for us on the D-line it’s to put pressure and make it a little bit cloudy for him. On the back end, it’s just to do their job, give him different reads, force some mistakes and give the ball back to the offence.”- Betts on the keys to making life hard for Harris.
“Just a better understanding of the game, getting more comfortable. Just like anything, the more reps you get, the more comfort you’re going to have. I think when you look at Zander, he works extremely hard; he’s a football player; he’s the type of guy that we really look at as a guy that doesn’t say a whole lot, but shows up and just works. (He) wants to be good for his teammates, too. Unselfish. When he gets the ball in his hand, he plays hard. I think when you look at what he’s done, look at his reps and look at what he does away from the ball, it allows us to be dynamic.”- Pierce on the impact of Horvath.
Extra Points
Sunday marks the 211th all-time regular season meeting between the Lions and Roughriders. Overall between 1954 and 2026, Saskatchewan has the edge with 109 wins against 97 losses and four ties. The Lions have dropped four of the last five regular season meetings with the Roughriders.
As of Friday morning’s depth chart release, there are no changes to the Lions’ starting lineup. The only roster change of any kind sees veteran Maxime Rouyer replace rookie Chase Henning as a backup WILL linebacker and special teams cog.
Rourke enters this contest with 13, 248 passing yards for his career, only 325 behind Dave Dickenson for fifth on the Lions’ all-time list. His all-time regular season record as a starter is 26-17.
On the other side, Harris is now fifth amongst all-time Rider QBs with 11,949 yards, having just passed Tom Burgess.
The ageless T.J. currently has 646 defensive tackles, tied with Larry Wruck for 15th on the CFL’s all-time list. Lee trails only Hall of Famer Solomon Elimimian (745) on the Lions’ all-time list.
Another Horvat nugget to watch: exactly halfway through the regular season, he is halfway to Cory Philpot’s single-season franchise record of 22 touchdowns set in 1995.
One oddity of this current three-game winning streak is the fact the Lions have not led after the first quarter in any of the games. On the flip side, they’ve outscored the opposition 41-18 in the last three fourth quarters.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com