ROBSERVATIONS: Resilient Roughriders’ remarkable receiver rotation … 50 years since 40-0! … Benson brings screen cred … surnames spotlighted

The defending CFL champions are poised to field an entire receiving corps that did not play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg.

Today in Hamilton, the Roughriders’ array of pass-catchers will consist of five starters (KeeSean Johnson, Dhel Duncan-Busby, Johnny Johnson III, Dylan Djete and D’Sean Mimbs) and two reserves (Daniel Wiebe and Vyshonne Janusas).

When the 2025 season concluded in triumphant fashion, Saskatchewan’s five first-unit receiving spots were manned by Samuel Emilus, Kian Schaffer-Baker, Dohnte Meyers, Tommy Nield and Ajou Ajou. Mitch Picton was the sixth receiver.

Emilus and Schaffer-Baker are on the six-game injured list as the Roughriders prepare to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Meyers (Cincinnati Bengals), Nield (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) and Ajou (Calgary Stampeders) are with other teams. Picton has retired.

Johnson did not play in the 2025 Grey Cup Game due to a knee injury. The depth at receiver, evident again this season, was such that Saskatchewan won a championship game without an All-CFL receiver who caught 86 passes for 1,159 yards in 16 regular-season contests last year.

Duncan-Busby was on the one-game injured list when the Roughriders won the fifth championship in franchise history. Mimbs was on the practice roster.

Johnson III, Djete, Wiebe and Janusas are first-year members of the Roughriders. In fact, Janusas has been elevated to the active roster to cap his first week with the team.

There is continuity in one respect: Saskatchewan will deploy the same quintet of starting receivers for the second successive game.

One day after Emilus and Schaffer-Baker were placed on the six-game injured list, Trevor Harris threw for 401 yards to power Saskatchewan to a 42-20 victory over the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS on Aug. 7.

KeeSean Johnson led the way with 133 yards on a career-high 11 receptions. He, Duncan Busby and Mimbs were the only returning receivers on the Roughriders’ roster last week.

Mimbs entered this season with four CFL regular-season games to his good name. He enjoyed a breakout game last week against Ottawa, making six catches for 84 yards.

In the same game, Djete registered his first four CFL receptions and his ice-breaking TD.

Johnson III enjoyed his most productive of five games with Saskatchewan, catching five passes for 117 yards. One of his receptions produced 51 yards.

He is a grizzled CFL veteran compared to Star Thomas, who is to make his Canadian professional football debut today at Hamilton Stadium.

Thomas, signed on June 24, is about to become Saskatchewan’s third starting running back this season. A.J. Ouellette (currently sidelined with a knee injury) and Quali Conley (hamstring) have split the first eight starts.

With so many adjustments, roster-wise, one thing has remained consistent: The Roughriders’ winning ways.

Saskatchewan carries a 6-2 record, good for first place in the West Division, into the looming matchup with Hamilton.

50 YEARS SINCE 40-0

Precisely a half-century has elapsed since the happiest day of my first 12 years as a proud inhabitant of this planet.

On Aug. 15, 1976 — 50 years ago today — the Roughriders eviscerated Edmonton 40-0 at Taylor Field.

The score, lopsided as it was, flattered the visitors.

Barely five minutes into the second half, the Roughriders assumed a 37-0 lead. Extending a gesture of mercy to the visiting side, then-Roughriders Head Coach John Payne removed Ron Lancaster from the game.

To that point in the proceedings, The Little General had completed 23 of 27 passes for 290 yards. Included were touchdown tosses to Rhett Dawson, Tom Campana and Steve Molnar.

“Ron Lancaster was just on that day,” long-time Roughriders fan Bentley Biletski recalls. “He could do no wrong.”

Fittingly, the Roughriders’ final touchdown in the rout was a one-yard quarterback sneak by Lancaster. He then held the ball for Bob Macoritti’s convert. Dave Syme handled the rest of the Roughriders’ quarterbacking on that fine afternoon — on Biletski’s 16^th birthday.

“We had been battling Edmonton, losing the Western Final three years in a row and coming oh, so close,” he says. “By winning this game, it was a statement: ‘OK, this year it’s our team.’ ”

Sure enough, the Roughriders dethroned Edmonton as the Western Conference champion. A 23-13 victory over Edmonton in the 1976 Western Final, played at Taylor Field, propelled Saskatchewan into the 64^th Grey Cup Game.

The home playoff win was sweet, to be certain, but the best day of 1976 was still Aug. 15.

It all started out rather uneventfully. Saskatchewan had but a rouge to show for the first 14 minutes 42 seconds. Then Molnar crossed the goal line to begin a binge of five touchdowns in a span of 13:14.

The scoring spree included a 108-yard touchdown by Paul Williams on a missed field goal return. Earlier, Williams had scored on a punt return, only to have the TD negated by a clipping penalty. (See again: Score flattered Edmonton.)

Lancaster’s 23-for-27 performance, by the way, was the first of its kind in Roughriders history.

The second 23-for-27 showing was by Cody Fajardo in Toronto on Sept. 28, 2019.

The third: Courtesy of Harris — in the 2025 Grey Cup Game — with Lancaster’s grandson, Marc Mueller, calling the plays.

MIKE’S IN MOVIES

A film session can take several forms when you happen to be Mike Benson. The Roughriders’ long snapper, you see, has appeared in motion pictures.

“I was an extra in a couple of hockey movies back when I was in college — the Don Cherry movies,” the former University of Manitoba Bisons standout says.

“The role of Don Cherry was played by Jared Keeso, who was in Shoresy and Letterkenny. Seeing him and his acting methods and seeing where he went 10 years later, that was pretty cool, too.

“I was an extra, playing one of the hockey players on the team. These were all for bar scenes and everything, so I had a black eye and stitches.”

JOHNSON JOTTINGS

• There have been two Johnson IIIs in Roughriders history. Albert Johnson III, also a receiver/returner, played in three games with the Green and White in 1999. He signed with the Roughriders on April 7, 1999 — five weeks before the team’s current Johnson III was born.

• You know you’re getting old when … Johnny Johnson was born on May 14, 1999 — the day before my wedding. Fellow receiver Dazz Newsome, who was born on the same day as the nuptials, signed with Saskatchewan on Feb. 27, 2024 but did not report to training camp.

• The Roughriders’ all-time Johnson total is 52. Four of them (Johnny III, Jalen, KeeSean and Daniel) have played for the team this season. They are among 23 Johnsons to have dressed in at least one regular-season game for Saskatchewan. Which brings us to …

SURNAME STANDINGS!

Smith leads the way at 54 — two ahead of Johnson.

Others in double digits: Jones 46, Williams 44, Brown 42, Thomas 28, Robinson 26, Davis 23, Taylor 23, Miller 21, Anderson 19, Clark 18, Harris 18, Walker 18, Wilson 18, Jackson 17, Bell 16, Campbell 16, Young 16, Allen 15, Hall 15, Hill 15, Thompson 15, Moore 14, Washington 14, Ford 13, Adams 12, Hughes 12, James 12, Lewis 12, Stewart 12, White 12, Scott 11, Wright 11, Butler 10, Edwards 10, Evans 10, King 10, Mitchell 10 and Richardson 10.

The Green and White tally: Green 8, White 12.

Factoring in six Greenes: Green(e) 14, White 12.

OWENS AND OWENS

Rashod Owens became the second player with his surname in Roughriders history when his signing was announced on Thursday.

The first was Chad Owens, who caught a touchdown pass from Harris during No. 7’s first visit to Saskatchewan — as a member of the Argonauts on July 5, 2015.

Rashod Owens attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in San Antonio, Texas.

Chad Owens attended President Theodore Roosevelt High School in Honolulu.

In 1898, the future U.S. President led a cavalry that was popularly known as Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Arkias Judah David Blundell, Rowan Phillips, Jersie Johnson, Harlem Johnson, Lila Haroldson, Carter Haroldson, Tim Novak, Mike Benson, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, Nathaniel Cruz, Marquay McDaniel, Ryder Varga, Brad Varga, Pat Fiacco, Ron Jones, Lovella Jones, Johnny Johnson III, Bentley Biletski, Rhett Dawson, Tom Campana, Bob Macoritti, Mike Benson, Shadia Ismail and Rob Pyne.