The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are back in the CFL West final for a fifth consecutive season.
To extend their Grey Cup game streak to the same length, they'll have to win another rivalry game.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders, under first-year head coach Corey Mace, beat the B.C. Lions last week to set up a rematch of teams that traditionally play consecutive games starting on Labour Day weekend.
The Blue Bombers will be supported by a fifth consecutive sellout crowd at Princess Auto Stadium, where the home team is 40-6 in the regular season and playoffs since 2019.
Here is a capsule look at the West final.
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT at Princess Auto Stadium.
The Blue Bombers were favoured by 4.5 points as of Thursday, by BetMGM.
The evening high is 4 C with winds at a modest 14 km/h. There is a 30-per-cent chance of precipitation.
The winner goes to the Grey Cup on Nov. 17 in Vancouver against the winner of Saturday's East final between the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts.
The Roughriders (9-8-1 in the regular season) earned a shot at Winnipeg (11-7) with a 28-19 win over the Lions last week in Regina in the West semi.
The Bombers rebounded from an 0-4 start to take first in the West for a fourth year in a row, earning home field for the division final.
It was close this year, though. A sudden wind storm in the season finale in Montreal resulted in a short punt for the Alouettes in the dying seconds, giving Winnipeg's Sergio Castillo the chance he needed to kick a walk-off, 51-yard field goal to clinch first in the West.
Had Winnipeg lost, Saskatchewan could have grabbed first with a win later that night against last-place Calgary. Once Winnipeg won, the Roughriders pulled several starters and ended up losing a meaningless game.
The Blue Bombers took two of three, sweeping the Labour Day home-and-home after losing the opener on July 19 in Regina.
In that first game, the Roughriders won 19-9 with Shea Patterson starting at QB in place of the injured Trevor Harris. Saskatchewan improved to 5-1 with the win, but it was immediately followed by a seven-game winless skid.
That stretch included two tight setbacks against the Blue Bombers.
The Blue Bombers won the Labour Day weekend game 35-33 in Regina as the Roughriders missed a late two-point convert as well as a 60-yard field goal try on the final play.
Less than a week later, the Blue Bombers beat the Roughriders 26-21 in Winnipeg.
The last team to go to five consecutive Grey Cup games was the great Edmonton dynasty (1977-82).
That team won the final five games during that incredible, six-year stretch.
The Blue Bombers are 2-2 during their Grey Cup run, losing the last two against Montreal and Toronto after beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the previous two.
The Roughriders missed the playoffs the past two years before notching last week's victory.
Saskatchewan lost against Winnipeg in the West final in 2019 and '21 (the 2020 season was cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic).
The Roughriders also lost a West semifinal against the Blue Bombers in 2018. Saskatchewan hasn't been to a Grey Cup since winning at home in 2013.
Mike O'Shea (Winnipeg) vs. Corey Mace (Saskatchewan)
O'Shea, 54, overtook Bud Grant's record for most wins as a Blue Bombers head coach this year. The North Bay, Ont. native is 107-69 in the regular season since becoming Winnipeg's coach in 2014.
O'Shea is a six-time winner of the Grey Cup as a player, head or assistant coach and is a two-time CFL coach of the year.
Mace, 38, is trying to become the first rookie head coach to win the Grey Cup since then-Argos coach Scott Milanovich (now Hamilton's coach) captured the title in 2012.
Mace is the West finalist for the CFL's coach of the year award. He guided the Roughriders to four wins in a row after the seven-game winless run to solidify second in the West.
The native of Port Moody, B.C., was defensive co-ordinator for the Argos the past two years.
A former CFL and NFL defensive lineman, Mace started coaching with Calgary as a position coach from 2016 to '21.
Zach Collaros (Winnipeg) vs. Trevor Harris (Saskatchewan)
These two broke into the league as backups to Ricky Ray with Milanovich's Grey Cup-winning Toronto team in 2012. What's more, O'Shea was the special teams co-ordinator on that team.
Collaros went on to play for Hamilton and then Saskatchewan before a concussion in the 2019 season opener with the Roughriders essentially ended his time with that team. Trades to Toronto and Winnipeg followed that year, culminating in an improbable Grey Cup as starter.
Collaros, 36, was the CFL's most outstanding player in 2021 and '22. This year, he was second in the league with 4,336 passing yards, though his touchdown-to-interception ratio (17-15) wasn't great.
Harris, 38, is looking for his first Grey Cup as a starter. He missed six games to injury this year, but he's been one of the league's better quarterbacks when healthy.
Harris led all starters with a 108.4 efficiency rating and threw 20 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He was strong again last week against the Lions, completing 26 of 33 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown.
This will be the first playoff meeting pitting Harris against Collaros.
Blue Bombers RB Brady Oliveira vs. Roughriders RB A.J. Ouellette
The Winnipeg-born Oliveira is the West nominee for the league's most outstanding player award, though he finished with under 50 rushing yards in all three contests against Saskatchewan. Oliveira was more effective as a passing target out of the backfield for Collaros versus the Roughriders, who finished first in rush defence this year.
Ouellette was injured for the final two games against Winnipeg after rushing for 88 yards versus Winnipeg in the win in July. All told, he missed 10 games due to a nagging hip injury.
Last week, Ouellette scored two touchdowns on the ground.
These are two of the best running backs in the league. It will be fun to watch them work.
Trevor Harris vs. Winnipeg secondary
The Blue Bombers allowed a league-low 232.7 passing yards per game this season.
Blue Bombers star defensive back Tyrell Ford intercepted Harris twice in their last meeting.
Harris has elevated his game since then, but this will be his toughest test in a while.
Roughriders vs. Winnipeg crowd
For years, Saskatchewan fans were considered the best in the CFL.
That hasn't been the case the last few seasons, however.
There is a very real home-field advantage in Winnipeg, where the Blue Bombers are selling out games regularly while the Jets struggle to fill their arena despite being off to a hot start.
The Roughriders were 4-4-1 on the road this season, but all four of those wins came against non-playoff teams.
Blue Bombers 28, Roughriders 14
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