Harris, Ouellette’s friendship a big piece to Roughriders’ early season success

Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris (7) hands off to Saskatchewan Roughriders running back A.J. Ouellette (45) during the first half of the CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Hamilton, Ont., on Saturday, June 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

A quarterback and running back are two important pieces to a football offense.

In Saskatchewan, the connection between QB Trevor Harris and tailback A.J. Ouellette is as strong off the field as it is on it.

“Don’t tell him, but I love that guy,” Harris said about Ouellette. “We’re just wired the same.”

Harris, from Waldo, and Ouellette from Covington both grew up in small town Ohio.

“We’re cut from the same cloth,” Ouellette responded. “Our traits, our character is just similar to where we can give each other crap but it’s coming from love.”

Although their paths are very different, their journeys have resulted in them wearing the same Roughrider Green.

“We’re both from, ‘hour and a half away,’ you know,” Harris said. “We’re small-town guys, small town football. He went to a super small high school, and I did as well.”

“[A.J.’s] a better person as he is a teammate, which is saying a lot because I think he’s as good as it gets up here as a running back,” the quarterback added.

A winning tradition

Over the past season, a ritual has formed between the two teammates.

When the Riders win, whichever of the two being interviewed on the broadcast is immediately tackled by the other.

A tradition which began after Saskatchewan’s West Final win over B.C. last year.

“I saw [Trevor] being interviewed and it seemed to be a really long interview,” Ouellette recalled. “I was trying to step in to kind of speed it up and just pretend I was going to tackle him. And then when it ended, I gave him a little dap.”

“I was just trying to get in his head and make him say something,” the running back added.

Harris was able to get his revenge earlier this year when Ouellette rushed for his first 100-yard game in a Roughrider uniform.

“I was out and he was getting interviewed, so I was like, ‘This is my turn,” Harris said with a chuckle. “So I started crawling around like a gorilla trying to tackle him.”

The new celebration has caught the attention of the league’s social media.

Both players say they always look forward to – and are always scheming – their next routine.

“I’m trying to game plan what else I can do because now it’s just getting kind of repetitive,” Ouellette said. “I got to add some more stuff in there. Maybe I’ll kick him.”

“Just pay attention, I’m going to fold him this week,” Harris laughed.

Infectious friendship

Harris and Ouellette’s close relationship has spread to the rest of the team, says coach Corey Mace.

“We try to encourage everybody, regardless of if they share a backfield together to develop those relationships off the field,” Mace told reporters Thursday. “They’ve shared car rides together from Ohio to here so there’s a lot of stuff they talk about that has nothing to do with football.”

“But it’s always cool to be able to work with your friends,” he added.

A two-headed monster leading the green machine to a 7-1 record in 2025.

“Those who are selfless. And that’s what we talk about, ‘Whatever it takes to win the game,” Mace said. “They’ll do that for one another, and everybody else on the roster. You love that about a selfless team.”

“As long as we’re winning,” Ouellette said. “I know teams going to have to start game planning for [Harris], so the run game will open up.”