Can the Saskatchewan Roughriders overcome the 13s and spoil Montreal's Calvillo Thanksgiving?

At first glance, the Saskatchewan Roughriders may not have much to celebrate on Thanksgiving Monday against the Montreal Alouettes (1 p.m. Eastern, TSN/ESPN3). They've lost two games in a row and have generally struggled to find any passing offence since quarterback Darian Durant was hurt near the start of September. Moreover, Montreal's chosen this day, October 13, to retire legendary quarterback Anthony Calvillo's #13 jersey, bringing back memories of Saskatchewan's 13th Man 2009 Grey Cup loss to Calvillo and the Alouettes. While Montreal's faced plenty of struggles this year too, the Als have won two games in a row and their quarterback situation has seemed to stablize a bit with the emergence of Jonathon Crompton. Do the Roughriders have a hope of spoiling the Calvillo festivities Monday, or will 13 prove to be unlucky for them yet again?

Saskatchewan's quarterback hopes may rest with Tino Sunseri, who they officially have listed as the starter on their depth chart, but it's interesting that the Riders didn't show a lot of faith in him earlier this week. Sunseri did well in relief against Calgary last week after coming in during the second quarter, completing 16 of his 19 pass attempts (84.2 per cent) for 289 yards and a touchdown and almost leading Saskatchewan to a comeback. Meanwhile, CFL rookie Seth Doege started against the Stampeders, but only completed three of his nine passes for 28 yards and threw three interceptions. Despite that, head coach Corey Chamblin refused to name a starter as recently as after Friday's closed practice, and said the matter wasn't particularly important:

Whether that was an attempt to sew confusion in Montreal (although Chamblin went on to say that Sunseri had been receiving the majority of the practice reps and would likely start) or just a way for Chamblin to prevent his quarterback from getting an inflated head, it certainly wasn't the highest endorsement of Sunseri. Based on what he's done this year, that's somewhat fair; while Sunseri impressed last week, he struggled dramatically in his other starts, and even after his impressive outing against Calgary, his numbers aren't that great. On the season, he's only completed 58.7 per cent of his passes for 842 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. It's possible Sunseri's turned the corner (and hey, his #12 is the closest to a #13 counter the Riders have, as no one on their team wears that potentially-cursed jersey), but it also could be that last week was the anomaly.

Saskatchewan's hopes may well ride with Sunseri, though. While the second-year CFL man hasn't seen a lot of playing time north of the border, he has far more under his belt than CFL rookie Doege. Playing quarterback in this league is a tough position, and one where it often takes time to adjust to the differences in the Canadian game; heck, Calvillo himself wound up as professional football's leading passer, but his career didn't really take off until his seventh season in 2000. Hopefully, adapting won't take quite that long for Sunseri and/or Doege, but it's not easy at all to acclimatize to what's required of a starting QB in this league.

The Riders will need Sunseri to adapt, though. Saskatchewan does have an experienced option with Kerry Joseph's return, but Joseph's still getting used to the team after rejoining them earlier this week, and is only listed as the third quarterback on the depth chart. Moreover, at 41 and returning after most of a year out of football, it seems unlikely he's going to be their saviour. Meanwhile, Durant's hoping to return in the last week of the season, but there are still three games until then. The Riders do have a strong ground game and a solid defence, but that may not be enough. If they're going to spoil the celebrations for #13 in Montreal, #12 will need to step up.