Riders open 2020 season at home against Montreal

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2020 schedule will include a mystery game.

On July 25, the Roughriders will face the Toronto Argonauts at a site to be determined. The host city for the neutral-site game — technically a home date for Toronto — will be announced in the weeks ahead.

The rest of the details were released Monday, when the CFL released its schedule. The Roughriders’ 2020 agenda, during which the team’s 110th anniversary will be celebrated, is as follows:

PRE-SEASON

■ Sat., May 30: at Calgary, 2 p.m.

■ Fri., June 5: vs. Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.

REGULAR SEASON

■ Fri., June 19: vs. Montreal, 7 p.m.

■ Thurs., June 25: at Hamilton, 5:30 p.m.

■ Sat., July 4: vs. B.C., 7:30 p.m.

■ Sat., July 11: vs. Toronto, 5 p.m.

■ Sat., July 25: at Toronto, 2 p.m. (site TBD).

■ Thurs., July 30: vs. Ottawa, 5 p.m.

■ Sat., Aug. 8: vs. B.C., 8 p.m.

■ Thurs., Aug. 13: at Montreal, 5 p.m.

■ Sat., Aug. 22: vs. Edmonton, 5 p.m.

■ Sat. Aug. 29: at Edmonton, 5 p.m.

■ Sun., Sept. 6: vs. Winnipeg, 5 p.m.

■ Sat., Sept. 12: at Winnipeg, 2 p.m.

■ Fri., Sept. 18: vs. Calgary, 8 p.m.

■ Sat., Sept. 26: at B.C., 8 p.m.

■ Sat., Oct. 3: at Edmonton, 5 p.m.

■ Sat., Oct. 10: at Ottawa, 2 p.m.

■ Sat., Oct. 24: vs. Hamilton, 5 p.m.

■ Fri., Oct. 30: at Calgary, 7:30 p.m. The 108th Grey Cup is to be played Nov. 22 at Mosaic Stadium.

NOTES ON THE SCHEDULE

■ Saskatchewan will begin its regular season with a bye, as was the case as recently as 2016. The Roughriders’ other byes are in Weeks 6 and 19.

■ The CFL will begin its regular season June 11, when the Eskimos play host to the B.C. Lions.

■ Five of the Roughriders’ nine home games will be on Saturdays. There will be two Friday games and single contests on a Thursday and a Sunday.

■ The Roughriders will meet the Montreal Alouettes in the home opener (June 19) for the first time since 2010, when Saskatchewan won 54-51 in double overtime on Canada Day.

■ Six of Saskatchewan’s first nine games are at home. Six of the final nine games are on the road.

■ The Roughriders will play every team twice, with the exceptions of three games against B.C. and Edmonton. The Lions will make two trips to Mosaic Stadium. Saskatchewan will play twice at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

■For the second consecutive year, the Roughriders will play a home game during the Queen City Ex. The July 30 matchup with the Ottawa Redblacks will coincide with the exhibition at Evraz Place.

■ Saskatchewan will play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Labour Day weekend for the 39th straight season, and the 56th time overall. The 2020 Labour Day Classic is slated for Sept. 6 at 5 p.m.

■ For the second consecutive season, Saskatchewan will play three consecutive road games in the fall. Prior to 2019, the Roughriders had not played three road games in succession since 1968.

“We want to congratulate and acknowledge the CFL and the other eight teams for the co-operation and hard work it took to put this season’s schedule together,” Roughriders president-ceo Craig Reynolds said in a media release.

“We know our fans are excited to get planning for 2020 and we can’t wait to show them what we’ve been working on to make this season special.”

EXTRA POINT

The Roughriders also announced Monday that two nationals, running back Atlee Simon and defensive back Shamar Busby, have been added to the roster. Both had stints with the team late last season. Simon is a graduate of the University of Regina Rams program.