Mitchell Blair | Riderville.com Staff

REGINA -- After opening the 2012 CFL season with three straight wins, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are back at the .500 mark after losing 28-20 in Edmonton Friday night to the Eskimos for their third-straight loss.

Edmonton quarterback Steven Jyles had a career night, throwing for 282 yards and a touchdown while the league’s number one defence perhaps made the play of the game to turn the contest into Edmonton’s favour. 

In the third quarter with the Eskimos leading 17-13, Riders quarterback Darian Durant connected with Weston Dressler on a crossing pattern. As Dressler was hit by the Edmonton bench, the ball popped loose with defensive back Joe Burnett scooping it up and running 44 yards for a touchdown to put the home team in control.

“We are a .500 team right now and we have to make a decision now,” Chamblin said. “We finished the first six as a .500 team so now it’s a new season. We have to re-focus and look at the next six games of the season and decide what kind of football team we are going to be.”

Chamblin said that while things have not gone well over the last three games, he is telling his players that the season is a long ways from being over.

“Don’t lose faith in yourself, your teammates or your coaches,” Chamblin told 620 CKRM’s Carm Carteri. “We will go back and we will find a cure for this and get it done.”

There were some positives on the night and the biggest one was the play of running back Kory Sheets. The first year CFLer continues to turn heads with his play and he had quite the game against the number one ranked defence in the league by collecting 216 yards both running and catching the football. 
While saying he wants to be the number one running back in the CFL, he adds that he would trade his personal numbers in for a team victory.

“Yeah, I had a nice night with the ball, but I would gladly take a night where I got five yards if it meant our team got the win,” Sheets said. “We didn’t succeed as a team tonight and get that “W” so the personal numbers don’t mean a lot right now.  I’m confident in my teammates that we can turn this around and get it done. We just have to get back into the room and figure out what’s happening and how to get back on the winning side of things.”

Middle linebacker Shomari Williams was one of many dejected Riders in the dressing room at game’s end. He believes the difference between this game and the first outing of the year when the Riders held Edmonton to just one point was simple.

“We couldn’t keep them to two and outs and we had some of those mental breakdowns that have hurt us for the last three weeks, “Williams said. “ Its nothing we can’t fix. We just have to be better with our assignments.”

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Riders. They will take on the B.C Lions Aug. 19 in Vancouver. They aren’t back on Mosaic Stadium turf until August 25 when the Calgary Stampeders pay a visit.

After opening the 2012 CFL season with three straight wins, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are back at the .500 mark after losing 28-20 in Edmonton Friday night to the Eskimos for their 3rd straight loss.

Edmonton quarterback Steven Jyles had a career night throwing for 282 yards and a touchdown while the league’s number one defence perhaps made the play of the game to turn the contest into Edmonton’s favour.  In the 3rd quarter with the Eskimos leading 17-13, Riders quarterback Darian Durant connected with Weston Dressler on a crossing pattern. As Dressler was hit by the Edmonton bench, the ball popped loose with defensive back Joe Burnett scooping it up and running 44 yards for a touchdown to put the home team in control.

When it was over, a disappointed Corey Chamblin said its time to go back to the drawing board.  “We are a 500 team right now and we have to make a decision now,” Chamblin said. “We finished the first six as a 500 team so now it’s a new season. We have to re-focus and look at the next six games of the season and decide what kind of football team we are going to be.”

Chamblin said that while things have not gone well over the last three games, he is telling his players that the season is a long ways from being over.

“Don’t lose faith in yourself, your teammates or your coaches,” Chamblin told 620 CKRM’s Carm Carteri. “We will go back and we will find a cure for this and get it done.”

There were some positives on the night and the biggest one was the play of running back Kory Sheets. The first year CFL’er continues to turn heads with his play and he had quite the game against the number one ranked defence in the league by collecting 216 yards both running and catching the football.  While saying he wants to be the number one running back in the CFL, he adds that he would trade his personal numbers in for a team victory.

“Yeah, I had a nice night with the ball, but I would gladly take a night where I got five yards if it meant our team got the win,” Sheets said. “We didn’t succeed as a team tonight and get that “W” so the personal numbers don’t mean a lot right now.  I’m confident in my teammates that we can turn this around and get it done. We just have to get back into the room and figure out what’s happening and how to get back on the winning side of things.”

Middle linebacker Shomari Williams was one of many dejected Riders in the dressing room at game’s end. He believes the difference between this game and the first outing of the year when the Riders held Edmonton to just one point was simple.

“We couldn’t keep them to two and outs and we had some of those mental breakdowns that have hurt us for the last three weeks, “Williams said. “ Its nothing we can’t fix. We just have to be better with our assignments.”

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Riders. They will take on the B.C Lions August 19 in Vancouver. They aren’t back on Mosaic Stadium turf until August 25 when the Calgary Stampeders pay a visit.