THE THREE KEYS

1 Nothing on line, expect the unexpected

If this was a betting publication, the immediate notion would be to take this game off the board. QB Travis Lulay will start, and is lobbying to play at least the first half. Saskatchewan won’t risk further injury to Durant, using backups Drew Willy and J.T. O’Sullivan, making this nothing more than an exhibition contest. B.C. must take it seriously of course, hoping to remove the odor stemming from last week’s game in Calgary. Still, expect the unexpected.

2 Time to go under hood for tune-up

B.C. will want to reestablish some defensive cohesion up with the return of DLs Eric Taylor and Khreem Smith, plus work in S J.R. LaRose, who takes over from Cauchy Muamba (concussion). The Lions’two biggest offensive priorities will be to provide protection for Lulay and Mike Reilly from an offensive line which will have C Angus Reid back. There’s also a need to make sure Harris is a threat and the kicking game with Paul McCallum is better than last week in Calgary.

3 Jump-start offence; remember Harris, too

Though many of the primetime players won’t be on the field, the Lions still need to look at their 27-21 road loss to the Riders Sept. 29 and clean up some mistakes. The Riders neutralized Lulay’s ability to scramble and Harris got 12 touches but none until midway through the second quarter. B.C. would take another performance from LB Adam Bighill, who had 13 tackles last meeting. But B.C. got nothing going offensively. It’ll be job one Saturday.