RIDERS TRYING TO GET READY

Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Ken Miller (L) with Riders quarterback Darian Durant (#4) at the end of the Saskatchewan Roughriders walkthrough at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton at the 98th Grey Cup on November 27, 2010.
Photograph by: Don Healy, Leader-Post

EDMONTON — The day before the Grey Cup is different than the day before, say, a Week 14 clash.

For Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Tad Kornegay, that means an increased need for downtime.

"It's really hard to relax when you're playing in a big game like this," Kornegay said Saturday after the Roughriders' walk-through at Commonwealth Stadium, where Saskatchewan is to play the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday's CFL final.

"You've got all the excitement around the game. It's a big event. Right now, it's all about trying to stay relaxed and calm and be ready for next year . . . I mean, next week . . . tomorrow. Excuse me. I'm excited. I can't even talk right now."

Linebacker Mike McCullough wasn't having any difficulty in that area.
"We're pretty relaxed," he said. "We're not doing a whole heck of a lot. We're just trying to take it easy. We have a lot of time to ourselves and to get mentally ready. I like to watch a movie and my wife's in town, so I might go for a meal. Nothing crazy for sure."

This is the Roughriders' third Grey Cup appearance in the past four seasons, so most of them know how to handle the buildup. However, there still are issues to be addressed.

"It's the last game of the year, so you don't have to worry about what's going on next week," said Saskatchewan centre Jeremy O'Day. "But there are a lot of distractions. You're worrying about your family making it here safely and you're worried about getting them in the right spots

and making sure they know where to go.

"But as you go to more to these, it makes it easier — even for the families. They know what to expect, too."

Roughriders defensive back Lance Frazier planned to take members of his family to the West Edmonton Mall on Saturday to give them a chance to hit the amusement park. After that, he was going to return to his hotel to continue poring over film in preparation for Sunday's game.
The walk-through and his workload may have been the same, but Frazier still considered the day before to be different.

"You're playing for what you've prepared for all your life: To win a championship," he said. "It doesn't matter how many of them you go to, it's the same preparation, it's the same feeling and the focus goes up.
"It's the biggest game of your life — it's the only game of your life. It's definitely different. You've just got to go out and do it now."

It's also different because of the length of their stay in town.

In the regular season, a team slated to go on the road prepares at its home field before heading to the location a day or two before the game. During Grey Cup, both teams are in the host city for days before the game — and that can be a problem at times.

"You're here the whole week and everywhere you walk, you're reminded of what the game is," O'Day said. "It makes it all the more exciting — and that's the way it should be."

Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant is eager to get it all over with. The Roughriders have been meeting and practising at different times than they do in Regina and the number of media requests that go along with the Grey Cup is greater than the team faces at home.

Even so, Durant has tried to remain on an even keel — and that may have allowed him to adopt a different mindset this week.

"I think I'm less amped and more focused," he said. "I think being amped up can kind of take a little energy out of you. If you're focused, you're thinking about football all the time and you're thinking about your reads and things like that.

"When you're amped up, you're focused on running around, jumping and high-fiving and it kind of takes you off of football. I'm a lot more focused on football this time around."

That could result in a different outcome that 2009, when the Roughriders lost to Montreal in the Grey Cup.

"I've been waiting so long, a full year, for this opportunity," Durant said, "and it'd mean everything to me to be able to capture this one."
ihamilton@leaderpost.com
Leader-Post sportswriter Murray McCormick will be tweeting Roughrider news this week from Edmonton. You can follow him at twitter.com/McCormickMurray
Don't forget, the leaderpost.com will be frequently updating you during the Grey Cup game on Twitter at twitter.com/leaderpost and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LPRoughridersNews
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-PostRead more: http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/Riders+shake+distractions+focus+championship/3894586/story.html#ixzz16XnOVd3X