Game Preview | Labour Day Classic

Yes, crank out an impressive win, just as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers did last week against the Montreal Alouettes, and not only does it change the narrative around this team, it brings the masses in Bomber Nation to their feet and bellowing 'Encore! Encore!' at full throat.

Add this rather tasty layer -- that next up are the Saskatchewan Roughriders for Sunday's Labour Day Classic followed by the rematch six days later in the Banjo Bowl and with the two teams separated by just two points -- and, well, this is where the sprint to the playoffs really gets interesting.

"What last week's does is it instills a confidence in us," veteran defensive tackle Jake Ceresna told bluebombers.com this week. "We went out and faced the best team in the league in Montreal, and we put on a great performance -- offence, defence, and special teams. It shows us what we're capable of and it shows us we can be as good as we think we are and we just have to keep working every day and chasing it to meet that standard and get better.

"But, honestly., I think we can be even better than that. Now we've got to just keep working hard, try to keep even keel and focus on getting better one day at a time. It's about not getting too high on yourself or too low on yourself. Just keep putting the work in every day."

That's been the message in Bomberland all week, essentially. The impressive win over the Als put wind in this ship's sails, to be sure, but it's also the expectation.

Critical now is for this team to not be a one-hit wonder, but to string together a series of hits one after another after another.

Five of Winnipeg's final seven games will come against West Division teams, including those all around them in the standings with this upcoming pair of games against the Riders followed by games against the Toronto Argonauts and Alouettes before the final three featuring a visit by the Calgary Stampeders before road trips to Edmonton and B.C. to round out the regular season.

Even with all the ups and downs of the first 11 games and an uneven 6-5 record, it's all still there for the taking.

"We had a nice rhythm going last week and were playing complimentary football with contributions from offence, defence and special teams," said receiver Tommy Nield. "That's what you're chasing each week: to be as close as perfect as possible. That's not always the case but you really stress the details at practice during the week and then hope it shows up on game day.

" It's something to build off. It's like, 'All right. This is what we're capable of and now this is the expectation.'"

THE LABOUR DAY CLASSIC BLUE BOMBERS (6-5) at ROUGHRIDERS (7-4) Kickoff: Sunday, 6 p.m. CDT; Mosaic Stadium, Regina TV/Streaming: TSN; CBS SportsNetwork; CFL+ Radio:680 CJOB; Play-by-play: Derek Taylor | Analyst: Doug Brown Streaks: Wpg.: 1W; Sask: 1W

"Every game you go in with confidence but once you see it after the game, it brings a little bit more oomph when you go back out there to work now that you've put it on film," added defensive back Deatrick Nichols. "It's there now for all of us to see. Now you understand what you're capable of.

"Plus, it's Labour Day. It's a great game. We all know what comes with this game and if you don't yet, you'll soon figure it out on Sunday once you walk in -- great crowd, great energy. There's no way you can't be ready to play this one. "

RINSE AND REPEAT

There was so much to like about the Blue Bombers complete performance last week, what with the offensive production, the usual contributions from the dudes on special teams and a defence that held Montreal's high-octane attack to under 30 points for the lone time this season.

Yes, the defence gave up four touchdowns, but as defensive coordinator Jordan Younger explained earlier this week, that's almost the new norm in the CFL these days.

Still, it was a damn fine template for the Blue Bombers to try and replicate again this Sunday.

"It was one of the games where we did the best job of complimenting the other phases," said Younger. "The offence executed their game plan at a high level; the defence executed our part at a high level, and the special teams made their contributions with the block punt and everything. So, from that element, it's exactly who the Winnipeg Blue Bombers want to be -- each group contributing to a W."

ELITE ZACH AND A BALANCED ATTACK

The numbers on his birth certificate now add up to 38 years on the planet and yet the performance Zach Collaros served up in leading the Blue Bombers to last week's win over Montreal were superb and certainly offered glimpses of his Most Outstanding Player seasons in 2021 and 2022.

Winnipeg's QB1 finished the game 22-of-36 for 324 yards with two TD strikes to Pokey Wilson. But those numbers don't provide all the context of his performance, from his control in the huddle, to getting people in the right spots, to protecting the football all as he then cut up the Alouette defence with the precision of a brain surgeon.

In his 150th career start -- he's now 93-57, including 59-25 as a Blue Bomber -- he averaged 10.1 yards per attempt and was 3-for-3 on passes of 20-plus yards of depth for 59 yards and a TD.

And when he's going like that -- as offensive coordinator Tommy Condell said earlier this week -- "He has the keys to Maserati, so to speak, and I'm not asking him to come home by 12. He's got a little time."

Over the last three games -- two wins and the exciting-frustrating loss to Edmonton -- Collaros has completed 71 percent of his passes for 765 yards with three TDs and one interception.

Couple that with the work of Brady Oliveira along the ground -- 106 yards on 16 carries -- and the Blue Bombers offence cranked out 447 yards of net offence, scored five touchdowns and had three Sergio Castillo field goals in its most balanced effort of the season.

ROADBLOCKING HARRIS & CO.

Photo courtesy The Canadian Press

Roughrider QB Trevor Harris turned 40 in May and yet is already authoring one of the best seasons of his career, even as his receiving corps has been a bit of a revolving door due to injuries.

Harris threw for 313 yards and two scores in last week's win over Toronto and has now eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark in seven games this season. His legacy numbers: he needs just 128 passing yards to move past Doug Flutie (41,355) for 10th spot on the CFL's all-time yardage list.

So, how does a defence handle that? Good question.

"All we can do is play fast. He throws it fast; we've got to play fast," said Ceresna. "It's just do whatever you can to affect the game, even if it's as simple as running to the football.

"As a defensive lineman it's hard when a quarterback has a quick release but it's anyway you can shape the game, even if it's just getting a hand up in a throwing lane or just rushing faster. It's just find a way. Find a way to impact the game."

"The ball comes out so fast," added Nichols. "But you can't be scared to see what you see and believe what you see. It's play ball and play with confidence and trust what you've seen on film.

"He loves the game. When you see a guy like that you just know he loves the game because he does his work through the week with his studying and play tendencies. He's just a good quarterback who makes good decisions. He does his job at a high level."

THE LINEUP: The Blue Bombers have made four changes to the lineup for the Labour Day Classic, with the biggest being the absence of SB Nic Demski, who has been moved to the one-game injured list. He'll be replaced in the starting lineup by rookie Dorian Singer, who played his college ball at Arizona, USC and Utah before spending preseason last year with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The other changes include the return of DB Deatrick Nichols and the additions of RB Matthew Peterson and LB Charles-Elliot Bouliane. Also off, besides Demski, are CB Jonathan Moxey, LB Brody Clark and LB Dylan Hazen.

Nichols will return to his halfback spot in the secondary, with Trey Vaval starting for Moxey at corner and handling the kick return duties.