Cody Fajardo has thrown it down.
“We’re going to be really happy when we clinch the West.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders secured a playoff spot with a convincing victory in Toronto but Fajardo has more plans for his squad.
“When you start the year you have a one-in-nine chance of winning a Grey Cup. And then you clinch a playoff spot you have a one-in-six chance. And then you want to get the first round bye where you have a one-in-four chance,” Fajardo said.
“So our goal is to be a one-in-four chance team clinching with a bye week because I’ve been on the positive side of that where you get that week off and you get to prepare and you get to get healthy for the last playoff push.”
Saskatchewan hosts Winnipeg, travels to Calgary, B.C. and Edmonton in successive weeks while finishing the season at home versus the Eskimos. Should the Riders win all of their remaining games top spot in the West would be owned by the green and white.
“It’s going to be a tough road ahead, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s going to prepare us, it’s going to give us a little bit of adversity, but we’re going to grow out of it. We’re going to play some tough teams down the stretch,” Fajardo said.
“The cool thing about it is we control our own destiny. You always want to be able to be the driver of the bus and we are in that situation. If we handle our business we can win a first round bye.”
The last time Saskatchewan claimed the West Division regular season title was in 2009 – the only time since the turn of the century. Anyone associated with the Riders knows what happened in the Grey Cup that year. Fajardo believes his team shares a unique relationship and it could help them make a championship run.
“The love in that locker room for one another, everybody is playing for each other. When you get a team like that you’re dangerous,” Fajardo said.
“It doesn’t matter the talent we got a lot of talent in that locker room, but the bond that we have in that locker room is a lot better than our talent that we have. Guys are laying it all on the line knowing that we want to be able to hoist the cup this year.”
