Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
Micah Johnson experienced a first in his CFL career at practice this week.
As the Saskatchewan Roughriders get set to host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday (5 p.m., TSN) in the annual Labour Day Classic, the Riders piped in artificial crowd noise through the speakers during the workout.
While artificial crowd noise at practice is nothing new, it’s typically something an offence uses ahead of a road game in a hostile environment.
This week, Saskatchewan is using it to prepare their defence for what will be a loud, sold-out Mosaic Stadium when the Blue Bombers’ offence is on the field.
“This is the first one,” said Johnson, an 11-year veteran and three-time CFL all-star. “I think everybody is expecting this place to be electric.”
With most of the 33,000 fans on their side, the Riders hope the crowd noise on Sunday will disrupt the Blue Bombers’ offence, making it hard for them to communicate.
That extra noise will also impact how Saskatchewan’s defenders communicate.
“The signals going in for the defence, that’s fine, but it’s all the adjustments and stuff based off of what the (opposing) offence is presenting to us that we have to communicate to get our job done,” said Riders’ head coach Corey Mace, who also serves as the defensive coordinator. “Just allows us to really tap in and get practice at that as well being able to communicate and execute.
“It was kind of new, but I thought it was advantageous for us.”
Dealing with that extra noise on the defensive side is a good trade off according to Johnson.
“Honestly it makes it challenging but to have that home crowd is something that we’d rather deal with as a defence and make (the opposing) offence deal with it as well,” said Johnson, veteran of 135 career CFL games. “It does factor in for the defence but our communication just has to be crisp and it’ll be fine.”
Entering Week 13 in the CFL season, the 36-year-old Johnson leads the league in sacks with six on a Riders’ defence that leads the league with 28. He’s also added 20 tackles in his first 11 games,
“We’ve got a great group of guys this year,” said the 6-foot-2, 278-pounder, who has already surpassed last year’s total of five sacks. “Just having the coaching staff that believes in me.
“Coach Mace has given me a lot of opportunities inside and that’s really all you can ask for as a D-lineman is for opportunities.
“And I’ve been able to capitalize.”
Mace — who was once a teammate of Johnson with the Calgary Stampeders and later coached Johnson when he had a career-high 14 sacks in 2018 — is not surprised to see the veteran produce.
“To have six right now, that’s a good year for a defensive tackle,” said Mace. “He holds himself to a high standard.
“I’m happy how he’s been playing to this point.”
For Johnson, he’s excited for another Labour Day Classic, which will be his fourth as a member of the Roughriders.
The veteran defensive tackle has also played in the Calgary vs. Edmonton Labour Day matchup as a member of the Stampeders and in the Hamilton vs. Toronto rivalry as a member of the Tiger-Cats.
Still, he has no doubt the game in Saskatchewan tops them all, especially considering what’s on the line this year in the playoff race, as the Riders enter the game in top spot in the West Division standings with a 5-5-1 record while Winnipeg comes in at 5-6.
The Riders are hoping to snap a five-game winless streak, while the Bombers enter action having won three in a row.
Saskatchewan also has a chance to secure the season series after winning their first meeting on July 19.
“To me, it’s the best rivalry up here and this year it’s going to mean something as we’re both fighting for first place,” said Johnson. “I think that just adds a little extra motivation in there but this game is huge and it’s always fun.”
“I think this one is a little notch up. I think the energy the home fans bring and how important it is to the people across the province.
“It’s definitely amped up.”
tshire@postmedia.com
