Much like Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, Jon Cornish got his revenge.
That's the message the Saskatchewan Roughriders take away from a crushing 29-24 defeat at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 26, a loss that eliminated the Roughriders from contending for the Western Division crown.
On the second play of the game from scrimmage the Riders defence forced a fumble by Cornish, the CFL's leading rusher. Forced is probably a strong word, as Cornish simply dropped the ball, but it was nonetheless a fumble that lead to a field goal from Chris Milo and an early 3-0 lead for Saskatchewan.
"I think that's the first time the ball's been falling out of my hand," Cornish said after the game.
Saskatchewan took a 15-10 lead into halftime but squandered an opportunity for a strong start to the second half when they fumbled the opening kickoff.
In the end, though, Cornish more than made up for his early mistake by scoring the winning touchdown, a three-yard run with just over two minutes remaining. Cornish, who ran for 109 yards on 20 carries, came out on top in his matchup with Kory Sheets, who came into the game behind only Cornish on the rushing leaderboard. Sheets ran for only 42 yards on 11 carries with no touchdowns.
The Riders briefly took a lead in the fourth quarter when Darian Durant found Taj Smith in the corner of the endzone for a 28-yard touchdown that gave Saskatchewan a 25-22 lead with about five minutes to go.
After a long pass from Tate to Jeff Fuller, the Stampeders were set up for their workhorse running back to take them home.
The Cornish touchdown was a tough way to finish for a Saskatchewan defence that had forced a quarterback change, as Calgary brought in Drew Tate for the second half after Kevin Glenn threw one interception and lost two fumbles in the first half.
Maybe nearly as significant as losing out on the West Division crown was a sprained knee suffered by wide receiver Chris Getzlaf, who caught three passes for 49 yards and surpassed 1,000 yards on the season.
"I think he'll miss some time. I'm not sure how much," head coach Corey Chamblin told the Regina Leader-Post.
The good news for Chamblin, Getzlaf and the Riders' medical staff is that the team is heading into what is essentially a bye week. They play the Eskimos this weekend but with the playoff order set the Riders' primary goal this weekend should be to stay healthy.
The Riders will take on the B.C. Lions on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Mosaic Stadium at 3:30 in front of what should be a raucous crowd. The winner will take on the Stampeders in the West Division final the following weekend. The Riders won two of the three games they played against the Lions this season and only fell short by two points in the game they lost.
The two teams met in Saskatchewan only once, with the Riders winning 35-14 on Oct. 19. Riders' fans will be hoping for more of the same thing. I'll break down the matchup in more detail next week.
