There is a sense of anticipation in Rider Nation.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders, who last participated in a CFL playoff game in 2014, created a post-season buzz as recently as 2013.
That, of course, was the year in which the Green and White celebrated a landmark home-field Grey Cup victory.
The Roughriders followed up by winning eight of their first 10 games in 2014. But when disaster struck, in the form of a season-ending elbow injury to quarterback Darian Durant, the season was sunk.
The 8-2 start had given the Roughriders enough of a cushion to finish third in the West Division (with a 10-8 record) and make the playoffs, but it was a token berth and expectations were suitably modest.
Inevitably, the Roughriders lost 18-10 to the host Edmonton Eskimos, who intercepted 41-year-old Saskatchewan quarterback Kerry Joseph five times during the dreary spectacle.
Nobody was too upset, really. The result was accepted with grim resignation.
In the absence of Durant, the Roughriders’ quarterback carousel had spun out of control. Joseph, Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege all started behind centre during the second half of a once-promising season.
A year earlier, the level of anticipation was infinitely higher. The 11-7 Roughriders were loaded with experienced talent on both sides of the ball. The team’s nucleus whetted appetites for the 2013 playoffs, in which the Roughriders delivered — winning all three games, and blowing out the final two opponents.
And there was chaos on the streets.
Then came the 2014 season, which concluded in inglorious fashion.
The 2015 Roughriders erupted for three victories.
The 2016 edition won a mere five games.
At the beginning of the 2017 season, it appeared that the Roughriders were destined to serve up more sludge. A 2-4 start hardly engendered optimism about a possible turnaround.
However, the Chris Jones-coached Roughriders stuck to the plan and ultimately stuck it to the critics, posting a double-digit victory total and looking very much like a factor as the regular season wound down.
The playoffs, which appeared to be a distant dream for a considerable portion of the summer, suddenly created some chatter.
At one point, a playoff berth seemed like a satisfactory step forward in Year 2 of the Jones regime.
But now there is the accompanying sentiment that an appearance in the post-season — while certainly indicative of progress — will not suffice.
The bar was raised on Oct. 13, when the Roughriders drubbed the host Calgary Stampeders by a 30-7 count.
So concluded Calgary’s 17game winning streak at home, and a Roughriders regular-season drought at McMahon Stadium that dated back to 2009.
Excitement was also buoyed by the robust play of the Roughriders’ defence, which held the perennial powerhouse from Calgary without a touchdown in each of the teams’ final two regular-season meetings.
The Oct. 13 statement game in Calgary was the ignition for elevated expectations, at least outside the organization.
On that Friday evening, the Roughriders served notice that they can win anytime, anywhere.
They are travelling for the playoffs, but a 5-4 road record — the same as in 2013 — demonstrates that the Roughriders’ success is not venue-dependent.
History can also be a gauge. The Roughriders reached the Grey Cup in 1972, 1989 and 1997 without the benefit of a home playoff game. So it can be done.
Also consider a 2017 season in Saskatchewan’s most impactful victories were on the road.
Commonwealth Stadium has traditionally been forbidding territory for the Roughriders, but history was meaningless on Aug. 25 when the Roughriders routed the Edmonton Eskimos 54-31.
Another victory in Alberta — the aforementioned humbling of the Stampeders — also signalled that this year’s Roughriders are a different team.
Hence the different feeling as the playoffs loom.
At the mall, or at the gym, people have stopped this scribbler and asked about the Roughriders’ playoff prospects.
Valued readers have excitedly sent emails in which they praise various aspects of the team and wonder how far it can go.
This, I conclude, is not a typical November.
The 2014 Roughriders were a lost cause well before their token playoff game. The Roughriders of 2015 lost their first nine games and the 2016 edition, which at one point sported a 1-10 record, wasn’t much better.
In each of those years, the end of the season seemed like a relief.
But this November, for a change, there is a feeling of belief.