LIONS-REDBLACKS: GAME ESSENTIALS

Lions vs. Redblacks While this game is the Redblacks’ home opener, it’s also the Lions’ first game of the 2015 regular season, in both cases because of stadium commitments for the Women’s World Cup of soccer. B.C. won both matchups in 2014: 7-5 at TD Place stadium on Sept. 5 and 41-3 at B.C. Place on Oct. 11.

Kickoff: Saturday, 6 p.m., TD Place stadium. Watch it: TSN, RDS2. Hear it: TSN 1200 AM, 104.7 FM, SiriusXM 168 (English) and 164/174 (French).

Redblacks’ last game: 20-16 road victory against Montreal Alouettes.

Lions’ last game: 18-13 preseason loss against Edmonton Eskimos. Players to watch Redblacks: Chevon Walker — The Redblacks tailback and kickoff returner ranked fourth in combined yards in Week 1 with 154, including 21 rushing yards in the victory-clinching drive late in the fourth quarter against the Alouettes.

Lions: Solomon Elimimian — The first pure defender ever named CFL most outstanding player, the B.C. linebacker established a league record last season with 143 tackles, 54 more than second-place Brandon Smith of the Calgary Stampeders. Something you didn’t know about

Zack Evans: The 25-year-old Redblacks defensive tackle persuaded his parents to sign him up for Ukrainian dancing when he was in elementary school and continued until he made the roster of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders at age 20. Part of that involved performances in the annual Mosaic festival in Regina, his hometown. There’s no Ukrainian heritage in Evans’ family, “but I was raised in that culture, so I feel like I’m Ukrainian at heart,” he says.