GAME PREVIEW

Courtesy Hamilton Spectator:

Ticats at Roughriders, 4:30pm MT today, TSN, CKRM

3 THINGS TO WATCH

1. Cornering the market

The Roughriders play with a non-import at the wide side corner -- a position often reserved for an American -- and their starter, Donovan Alexander, has been battling a hamstring injury. A Canadian corner would likely be a target anyway, but an injured one (or his back up) will more than likely be tested early and often.

2. Goal line hijinks

The Ticats' struggles from deep within the red zone are well-documented, so look for new and nifty personnel groups and schemes if Hamilton finds itself knocking on the doorstep. The Cats have consistently left points on the board against good teams -- Calgary and Montreal, in particular -- and won't be successful in Regina unless they can finish drives with seven points.

3. Bring the noise

The Regina crowd is notoriously bonkers and will be at full throttle for a game that starts mid-afternoon on a Saturday. The Ticat offensive line has struggled in hostile environs and will now have an entirely new right side -- tackle Belton Johnson and guard Simeon Rottier have yet to play together in a game this season. Quieting that crowd earlier -- say by scoring a TD or two -- would go a long way to making life easier for the boys up front.

WHAT THEY SAID:

"I made a joke, 'Let's just score from 20 or 30 yards out and then we don't have to worry about the one yard.' " - Ticat quarterback Kevin Glenn on the team's trouble scoring from in close

"Certainly, I'm concerned with the number of points that we've given up. That's part of the consistency. I'm concerned with the fact that we gave up so many big running plays in that football game, so we have to do a great job of stopping the run and we have to do a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback, because right now we're putting a lot of pressure on our secondary in the passing game." - Saskatchewan coach Ken Miller

"We're 1-3, but we're a good 1-3. We'll be all right." - Hamilton linebacker Otis Floyd on the state of his team

BY THE NUMBERS

-3

Turnover ratio for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, second-worst in the CFL, trailing only Edmonton's mark of minus 9.

66

Yards needed by Ticat receiver Arland Bruce to pass Tom Forzani for 30th on the CFL's list for all-time receiving yards.

+6.1

Percentage increase in scoring per game this season, compared to 2009. Last season, an average of 51. 3 points were scored by both teams, but that number has risen to 54.4 points through the first four weeks of 2010.

Ticat linebacker Jamall Johnson vs. Roughrider QB Darian Durant

Durant is almost as big a threat with his legs as he his with his arm: He is ninth in the league in rushing and has more yards on the ground -- 162 -- than Ticat running back DeAndra' Cobb. Johnson leads the CFL in tackles with 28 and will look to use his sideline-to-sideline speed to contain Durant as well as Roughrider running back Wes Cates.

THE STATS

Think today's game might be high-scoring? Saskatchewan has not only scored the second-most points in the league -- not surprising with Darian Durant running things -- but has surrendered more points than any other team in the league.

After four games, the 'Riders' offence has collected almost 700 more yards than Hamilton's. Saskatchewan has 1,960 yards in net offence. Hamilton has 1,264.