The Saskatchewan Roughriders may not need extra motivation Thursday as a win over the Edmonton Elks means they will take over control of the top spot in the CFL’s West Division, but they have it with the thought of teammate Jayden Dalke in their minds. “The team is going to be playing with heavy hearts and probably with a lot of emotion,” Riders’ analyst Wes Cates said on this week’s edition of X’s and O’s. “They’re going to be going out there trying to play for their fallen teammate and try to use this the best way you can to try and motivate you through this adversity.” Dalke was one of two people killed in a head-on collision on the evening of July 18 on Highway 1 east of Lumsden. Bhishma Rajyaguru, 22, was struck by a silver SUV travelling into oncoming traffic. He was declared dead at the scene. RCMP also reported that alcohol and cannabis were found inside the silver SUV by officers following the crash. It is unknown if impairment played a factor in the collision, as autopsies and toxicology reports have yet to be released. The Riders announced Tuesday the team will honour Rajyaguru before their game Thursday night against the Elks. Dalke, who was 30 years old, was signed by Saskatchewan in May 2022. The Leduc, Alta., athlete appeared in 68 career regular season games, registering 69 tackles, 31 special teams’ tackles, three forced fumbles, an interception and a sack. “It’s been a lot,” quarterback Trevor Harris admitted Wednesday. “It’s been quite a rollercoaster of a week, as I’m sure everyone can understand; it’s been a heavy week. But we also know we have a job to do.” Cates recalled his playing days in college, when he had a teammate pass away. “There’s going to be some moments taken to discuss and fill out where everybody’s at mentally and emotionally,” he said. “But at the end of the day, they’re going to rally around this and try to put forth a great performance. It’s going to be tough.” “It mentally wears on you, but hopefully these guys can find a way to use it as motivation and bring everybody closer together to come out with the victory and move on,” Cates added. Agent ‘0’ returns Last week’s bye week proved to be much needed for the Green and White, as it allowed a couple players dealing with injuries to return to the lineup this week. Most notably, halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. is back after exiting Saskatchewan’s season opener. “He’s a difference maker,” head coach Corey Mace said about his former defensive player of the year. “When he went down, getting the news it wasn’t going to be super long term, that was good for us and good for him. Happy as ever to have him back.” Milligan won the DOPY award in 2024. Now in his sixth season with the Riders, ‘Agent 0’ has 54 games played, 242 total tackles, two sacks, 14 interceptions, a forced fumble and one defensive touchdown. A leader of the defense, Mace could not undersell the importance of his return in a battle for first place. “There’s so many different things you can do with Rolan on the roster,” the coach said. “It opens the playbook defensively, but I think just having that security blanket – in any game – you’re looking for situations where somebody can make a play and when you got zero back there, percentages are going to be a little bit higher.” Best in the West Saskatchewan (4-1) sits second place in the West, two points back of the division-rival Elks (5-1). The winner will claim the top spot – at least for now. “I’m always giving Cody Fajardo a tough time, but he does find a way – and he has been finding a way these last couple of years – to close out games,” said Cates. “But really, it’s been about the Elks defense. They really been playing really tough, they’ve been turning teams over and have been making it easy for this Elks offense.” In the past two games, Edmonton has racked up eight takeaways – all interceptions. The Elks pace the field in turnover ratio at +11. “Everybody’s getting more comfortable what they’re doing,” Mace said about the Elks. “They got good players as well. So with them being familiar with what’s expected and the nuances of their defense.” “But ultimately comes down, you’ve got to make the plays. They’ve been doing that. They’re a really good defense and they’ve been a tough matchup for a lot of teams,” he added. While Harris remains one of the league’s most accurate passers this season, Edmonton’s secondary of ball hawks posses a new threat. “When you play good teams, everybody knows what their identity is and they are,” Harris told reporters Wednesday. “It’s just a matter who’s in and going out next to each other, who’s going to come out with great intensity and great enthusiasm for what’s going on.” “[Saskatchewan] cannot turn the ball over,” Cates added. “They’ve got to sustain drives and make sure they’re not going to make it easy for the offence to take advantage of the Rider defense in short-field situations.” Harris has passed for multiple TDs in each game this season. He is a career 8-6 against the Elks. His counterpart – and former Roughrider – Cody Fajardo is a career 1-1 against his former team and he has yet to win as a visitor at Mosaic Stadium. It is also a rare home-and-home series – outside of Labour Day - over the next two weeks with the Elks as the Riders’ opponents in Week 9 as well. Kickoff Thursday is set for 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium. -With files from David Prisciak, Caitlin Brezinski, Blair Farthing and The Canadian Press
