‘Pinch me moment’: Sask-born players proud to represent hometown Roughriders in Grey Cup

After 12 years, Saskatchewan hosts the Grey Cup. Hometown Roughriders reflect on chasing their first Grey Cup and the journey from fans to players.

It is a rare opportunity to play for one’s hometown team as a professional, let alone in a championship game. However, six Saskatchewan Roughriders from the province are getting the unique opportunity to live out their dreams Sunday.

Mitch Picton, Noah Zerr, Logan Ferland, Jaxon Ford, Jorgen Hus and D’Sean Mimbs are the six players on the Roster who were produced in Saskatchewan and they have some distinct memories watching the Green and White play in big games.

“I definitely remember 2007, watching that one,” Regina product Mitch Picton told CTV News. “The other ones as well, ’09 and ‘10. I was at the game and ‘13. That was my first year of university.”

“But just seeing how excited the city and fans get makes it pretty special,” he added.

Ferland was a little younger in 2013 – the last time the Roughriders played in a Grey Cup. He still remembers the experience of watching the game.

“We didn’t watch a lot of football, but we always watched the Grey Cup,” said Ferland. “I was in my second year ever playing football, so [playing in a Grey Cup] wasn’t necessarily a goal at that time.”

As important as the team making the Grey Cup is for fans, players who are from Saskatchewan may know it better than anyone.

“The special part of playing for the Riders is having that support and that fan base,” Picton said.

Offensive coordinator Mark Mueller is also from Regina.

Hus finally makes the big game

Being a long snapper is not a position which garners a ton of attention or recognition, but Jorgen Hus has embraced the role and carved out a long career because of it.

The Saskatoon product is the Roughriders’ longest-serving player, joining the team in 2014 after an attempt to make the NFL and then a trade from the Edmonton Elks.

“This was the only team I wanted to play for,” Hus said. “It’s where I’ve always wanted to be and is where I’m only going to be. It means a lot to play for this team.”

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Hus says in 2013, he had many friends on the roster who he was cheering for as he watched the game from home.

“I was just excited,” he said. “I always knew at some point I’d be in this league and, hopefully one day, experiencing those moments with them.”

“They have a dominant win that day. So, hopefully we can do the same [on Sunday],” Hus added.

Now in his 10th CFL season, Hus is getting his first crack at a championship.

“Finally, right. I finally got here,” he said with a large smile. “It’s been a long time coming and I’ve dreaming about this day since I was a little kid and started playing football.”

“To play for your home province means a lot. And then to get to this game just means so much more. We’ve been trying for so many years,” Hus added.

O’Day reminisces

General Manager Jeremy O’Day has been a part of the Roughriders’ organization for nearly three decades.

Joining Saskatchewan in 1999, he played over 200 regular season games in Green and White before moving to the front office after retiring in 2011.

O’Day has two Grey Cup rings as a Roughrider, winning in 2007 as the team’s starting centre and then in 2013 as Assistant GM.

“The thing I remember most being on the field in ’07 is Wes Cates ran for a first down and that’s the moment we knew we won,” he recalled. “That was some kind of feeling.”

Except the game was not done yet.

“My next couple snaps, I was worried about fumbling the snap,” O’Day said. “It was very nerve wracking, we had [to] snap the ball a couple more times.”

The general manager feels the 2025 iteration of Saskatchewan Roughriders are similar to past teams which have made the final.

“Specifically to 2007, I always I felt like that team was very close,” O’Day said. “That’s the feeling I get with this team: they care about each other.”

“Even the ’09 and ‘10 teams that went to the Grey Cup, they believed in their head coach and wanted to want to do good for their head coach. That can be underestimated when you have a team that wants to win for their head coach,” he added.

A teammate’s wish

Some Riders have taken notice of what this game means to those who are from Saskatchewan.

“I think about [them],” quarterback Trevor Harris said on Tuesday. “I’ve seen the joy in their faces after we won the West Final and then going to the Grey Cup for the first time in the green and white.”

“To finish the job [for them] motivates me,” he added.

In addition to the players raised in Saskatchewan, several others attended university or played junior football in the province.

“Not that everyone doesn’t want to win, but someone born and raised or have gone to school, there is a different level of excitement,” O’Day said.

“Since being able to play football in the small town of Melfort, this has been a goal of mine,” Ferland added. “And just to be here is a ‘pinch me moment.’”