It’s a juicy storyline, and one that might be explored even further in the next couple of days.

Yes, rewind to just over a month ago when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders last met in the Banjo Bowl, and a 32-27 setback that left the dudes in blue and gold hemorrhaging from several self-inflicted wounds.

The club headed into the bye week on a four-game losing streak, with quarterback Matt Nichols having been pulled for the first time as a Bomber, and at 5-7, with their season seemingly close to sliding off the rails into a twisted mess.

Fast forward to the present and the Bombers have not only cranked out three straight victories to get back in the Canadian Football League’s playoff picture, but also assuaged concerns about their defence.

Oh, and Nichols might be coming off his best game of the season following last Friday’s 40-32 overtime win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

All of this is part of the backdrop that should make Saturday’s matinee at Investors Group Field such a dandy. Not only have the Bombers found their game, but the Riders – winners of seven of their last eight – have morphed into a legit contender, with their defence one of the league’s elite powers.

“My mindset is I feel like I didn’t play my best football twice against them,” began Nichols after practice on Wednesday when asked if ‘payback’ was on his mind. “We moved the ball well, very well at times, and you look back and see a lot of good things on the film. It just comes down to treating this as a different game. The past is the past. Both teams are in different areas, the season is in a different area from the last time we played. I just approach it as a completely new game and stick to what we’ve been doing the last few weeks. Let’s just go out and execute and see how the chips fall after that.”

There’s truth to what Nichols says, even if some of it was lost in the wreckage after the loss in the Banjo Bowl. The Bombers cranked out 193 yards rushing in their 31-23 loss to the Riders on Labour Day and 325 yards passing a week later here in Winnipeg.

But the Bombers also turned the ball over eight times in those two games, gift-wrapping three scores in particular, as Willie Jefferson and Sam Eguavoen both had Pick-6s in the Banjo Bowl, while Matt Elam returned another mistake to the one-yard line to set up another touchdown.

The Riders have kept that theme going since, with Jefferson doing it again last weekend in a Pick-6 in a win over Edmonton that was the decisive score. Saskatchewan has 17 interceptions this season – a whopping seven of them for touchdowns.

“You see guys just flying around the field making plays, that’s what they do,” said Bombers slotback Nic Demski of the Riders defence. “They strive off turnovers. They’re a good tackling team, they swarm to the ball, they’re very athletic. They definitely have a good defence over there.

“As athletic and aggressive as they are, sometimes they’re just too aggressive and you can definitely take shots on them, you can definitely find the plays, run the ball a little bit on them, too. We’ve got a good gameplan for them and if we execute it like we should, we’ll be alright.”

BOMBER REPORT | October 10, 2018

MEASURING STICK? NAH…:

Interesting quote from Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea about matching up against the Riders now, given it comes following a three-game winning streak:

“I don’t think we’re trying to measure ourselves against anybody,” said O’Shea. “We understand who we are and we’re trying to win football games. I don’t think it’s a matter of trying to size ourselves up. We don’t really ever talk about that, but if teams do that’s more at the beginning of the season or after training camp than it is at this stage of the game.

“We know we can win football games if we play well and if we don’t play well, if we turn the ball over, we can lose games too. I don’t think there’s any need to look any deeper than that.”

OUCH REPORT:

A slight scare for the Bombers during practice on Wednesday when veteran receiver Weston Dressler – who had two touchdowns in the win over Ottawa – went down in a heap after getting tangled up with defensive back Chris Humes on a deep pass attempt. Dressler left practice, returned about 10 minutes later but did not participate.

O’Shea did say after the workout that Dressler should be fine. Ditto for DB Brandon Alexander and OL Sukh Chungh, both of whom did not practice on Wednesday.

ALL QUIET:

The CFL’s trade deadline came and went without the Bombers making moves although the Riders, this week’s opponent, did deal with the Montreal Alouettes by landing fullback Patrick Lavoie and OL Phillip Blake, both Canadians, for Canadian receiver Josh Stanford. The Als also shipped Canadian linebacker Chris Ackie to Ottawa for a second-round draft pick in 2019.

GOOD NUMBERS:

Bombers RB Andrew Harris has not only eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second consecutive season – a first in his career – his 1,233 total is already a career high.

Consider this, as well: Harris has 1,637 yards combined, both rushing and receiving, and that is already close to the 1,892 combined yards he had last year when he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian.

“He’s a talented player,” said Bombers offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice. “We want to run the football when we can, but he’s a prepared individual. You can see why he’s successful because of his work ethic and how hard he trains. He’s in his third year with us now, too, and talking to him earlier in the year he just said, ‘I’m so much more comfortable. I understand what you guys want from me more now and how to run the ball and do the things we’re trying to do in the system.’ Hats off to him. Good player.”

FEELING ALL RIGHT:

We told you post-game about how Nichols had been dealing with a bug prior to the win over Ottawa, but he is fully recovered now.

“My whole house has been sick. A lot of guys on the team have been sick,” said Nichols. “Mine is just known about because I wasn’t in the best shape to do media the day before (the game) so you guys knew about me being sick. But a lot of guys have been dealing with it. My worst day was the day we flew there and the flight probably didn’t help very much. But by the time game time rolled around my voice was a little hoarse and I was congested, but aside from that I felt great during the game.”

As for Harris bringing him a steak and NyQuil the night before the game, Nichols acknowledged the gesture – knowing that the running back was within earshot during interviews on Wednesday.

“Andrew did bring me dinner and some medicine,” said Nichols with a grin. “Just a great teammate taking care of me… but he still charged me for the meal, though.”