RIDER PRIDE

By Ian Hamilton , Leader-PostSeptember 9, 2009

REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders are about to get an influx of talent — from within.
Fullback Neal Hughes and defensive back Leron Mitchell are among those who come off the CFL team's nine-game injured list this week.

It was unclear Wednesday which players (if any) will be activated or when by Saskatchewan, which visits the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we would see one or two for sure," Joe Womack, the Roughriders' director of player personnel, said during Wednesday's practice at Mosaic Stadium. "That'll be determined at the end of the week by Coach (Ken) Miller.

"But they're getting lots of reps today and we're excited about getting them back if not for this game (then) for the upcoming games right after that."
Whatever moves the Roughriders make with those players will prompt the removal of others from the active roster.

"We're thinking about ways to go about doing that right now," Miller said. "Certainly there are going to be some tough decisions."

Hughes (who suffered a leg injury in training camp) and Mitchell (who sustained a broken leg in Saskatchewan's second regular-season game in 2008) were taking reps with most of the special teams during Wednesday's practice.

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After the Roughriders beat the visiting Bombers 29-14 on Sunday, Winnipeg quarterback Michael Bishop vowed revenge in the Banjo Bowl.

"We're going to whoop their ass next week," Bishop was quoted as saying in some media outlets.
Roughriders defensive end Stevie Baggs welcomed the challenge.
"It's not going to make us play harder because he said those words," he said Wednesday. "People say things

like that all the time. It's called quote-unquote bulletin-board material.

"For us, as long as we do our jobs, we'll be fine. We don't care about him saying they're going to kick our butts this game. You're supposed to feel that way every time you step on the field. That's fine."

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In his column in Tuesday's Winnipeg Free Press, Bombers defensive tackle Doug Brown pointed out the team had to hold its walk-through on the practice field adjacent to Mosaic Stadium because of Fan Appreciation Day.

Brown then suggested the Bombers should hold some kind of an event at Canad Inns Stadium on Saturday to force the Roughriders to find another field for their walk-through.

In light of that suggestion, Miller was asked if he was wondering where the Roughriders are going to be Saturday.

"We're not wondering; we're going to be in the hotel," he said with a laugh. "They said we couldn't use their field until 2 o'clock or something. It's not uncommon for us to do our walk-through in a meeting room.

"You've watched us a lot on the day before and really all we do is call up our special teams and make sure our substitution packages are correct, so we could do that just about anywhere."

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EXTRAS: Slotbacks Andy Fantuz and Jason Clermont practised Wednesday. Fantuz has missed the past five games with a hamstring injury, while Clermont suffered a bruised quad on Sunday . . . Linebacker Rey

Williams, who injured a knee against the B.C. Lions on Aug. 7, was back on the practice field Wednesday.

Williams left after about 45 minutes to get treatment on his knee and didn't return . . .

The CFL announced Wednesday it had fined Toronto Argonauts general manager Adam Rita $500 for his conduct with a reporter following Monday's 34-15 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Rita reportedly berated the reporter after he asked the veteran GM about the job security of Toronto head coach Bart Andrus.

ihamilton@leaderpost.canwest.com