REGINA – Touchdown Tommy Nield is going to the Gray Cup again – and this time he'll be taking the Saskatchewan Roughriders with him.
Nield, a two-time Gray Cup winner with the Toronto Argonauts, caught a three-yard pass from Riders quarterback Trevor Harris with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give Saskatchewan a 24-21 victory over the BC Lions in the West Division final Saturday, sending the Riders to the 2025 Gray Cup.
The Riders will face the Montreal Alouettes in the Gray Cup in Winnipeg on November 16th. The Alouettes advanced to the championship game with a 19-16 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division final earlier Saturday.
Trailing 21-17 with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter, the Riders drove 74 yards in seven plays and scored the game-winning touchdown. Nield ran a quick slant route into the end zone on the left side of the formation, and Harris threw a quick pass into the tight window for the completion.
Nield, who signed with the Riders in the offseason after four seasons with the Argos, was still trying to figure out the catch after the game.
“It's beyond words. It's just a super exciting moment, I'm grateful to be in this position and this is the game you dream about and I'm just grateful to be able to play for my team,” Nield said.
“Honestly, that play didn't look good, so I knew Trevor was going to put it on the body, kind of a catch. It was going to be like a body, bam, bam, kind of catch. He put it on the money, and I'm just happy I made that play.”
Although Nield was confident he had caught the ball, the touchdown was reviewed by the CFL command center. After lengthy consideration, the appointment was confirmed.
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“I knew I had it down the whole time. Then I look at the review and ask: “Did they see something?” because you never know what will happen there. I just sat there and waited, making sure I didn't celebrate it all for the sake of it turning around,” Nield said.
Nield's touchdown capped a wild finish that saw Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mays decide not to punt on third down twice in the final three minutes. The first decision was made with the Lions leading 21-14 and the Riders facing a third-and-goal situation at the BC five-yard line. Mays elected to kick a field goal to cut the lead to 21-17 with 2:42 remaining.
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Mace said accepting the glasses was a difficult decision.
“Very close. It feels like last year I probably would have just said, “Fuck it, let's do it.” But to score points, just knowing what we're capable of, to be able to make sure that we're scoring points rather than getting them, and then we have to do the same thing just to even the score.
“It was just faith in the guys. That's what it came down to. I thought about it for sure, but it was a pretty easy decision,” Mays said.
“I've made aggressive decisions on this team before and it hasn't worked out for us in previous games. And while I understand (the fans' frustration), I totally get it. Just have faith. But I get it, I totally get it, but I think you still love us.”
What did Harris think of this decision?
“Nothing. I trust Corey Mays. He knows what he's doing. As you all saw, I'm sure there are people at home asking, 'What are you doing?' And now they're like, 'Mays is the man,'” Harris said.
The second call came with 1:42 left and the Riders found themselves in a third-and-10 situation at their own 36-yard line. Instead of gambling, Mays decided to punt and trust his defense to get the ball back.
The football gods smiled on Mace and the Ryders because that's exactly what happened.
The Riders forced the Lions to tie the game after AJ Allen sacked quarterback Nathan Rourke on plays two and three. The ensuing punt gave the Riders the ball back with 1:10 left. Harris knew that was enough time to score a goal.
“I looked at my watch and thought there's plenty of time in the CFL. Usually when you watch an NFL game or a college game in the United States, you think, 'Oh man, no, there's not that much time.'
“We have plenty of time here to get down there, so we just moved the ball down the field carefully,” said Harris, who finished the game with 26 of 38 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns.
For Rourke, BC's final offensive play was a missed opportunity to put the Lions in position to seal the win.
“It looked like they were sitting hard in the box waiting for some kind of push. I appreciated the confidence from (head coach) Buck (Pearce) to put the ball in my hands and see what was happening,” Rourke said.
“That'll probably be the play I think about the most, just wishing I could have done something with it. Obviously you wanted the ball in your hands at that point and I just didn't make the play, so that's on me.”
Rourke, who is a Western Division finalist for CFL Most Outstanding Player, completed 20 of 30 passes for 290 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also scored two rushing touchdowns.
Defender TJ Lee felt Saskatchewan's final shot had just eluded the Lions.
“The main drive was up-tempo. They caught us on the defensive end and then just kept playing, hustling and continuing to finish the pass,” Lee said.
“As a veteran, I wish I could have done something different. I wish I could have taken the responsibility of calling a timeout or something like that, just to help us get things back on track. But we kept playing. We looked to make a play, and they made a play.”
Running back AJ Ouellette had an impressive game for the Riders, who return to the Gray Cup for the first time since 2013 when they defeated the Tiger-Cats 45-35. Ouellette gained 113 yards on 17 carries.
Kian Schaffer-Baker also had a catch for the Riders, and Brett Lauter kicked three field goals.
Keon Hatcher caught a 19-yard scoring pass for the Lions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2025.
