Courtesy Regina Leader Post

The most resilient Saskatchewan Roughriders fans found the ideal way to beat the traffic. They hung around until the end of the Boredom Bowl.

Mosaic Stadium was largely vacant at the merciful conclusion of the Riders’ regular-season finale — Saturday’s 41-13 CFL loss to the Toronto Argonauts.

Things did not get interesting for those of us who cover the Roughriders until head coach Kent Austin appeared.

The second question he fielded pertained to whether the Argonauts — who secured first place in the East Division on Saturday — had a greater incentive to win, considering that the outcome did not influence the Roughriders’ playoff situation.

“Well, that’s a bunch of crap,” Austin snorted. “You always have something to play for, if you’re a professional and you care about your job. You’re getting paid to play. You’re getting paid to prepare as best as you can prepare.

“When you take the field, you’re getting paid to make plays, to be in the right position, to be assignment-sound, and to play well. That’s what you’re getting paid to do. It doesn’t matter what the standings are. It doesn’t matter what the ramifications are. That is an excuse. One thing you guys probably understand by now with me is I can’t stand excuses. I’m not going to put up with it.”

Those words should be of some solace to Roughriders fans. After all, the team’s worst performances tend to bring out the best in their head coach.

On July 20, for example, the Roughriders gassed a 20-1 halftime lead and lost 21-20 to the host Edmonton Eskimos.

Austin was rightfully rankled. When the Riders returned to practice, one of the first-year head coach’s initial moves was to bench receiver Andy Fantuz.

On that day, Austin’s intensity burned. His words and gestures reverberated throughout the team. A five-game winning streak ensued.

Fast forward to Sept. 15. The Riders hit another lull, losing 44-22 to the Calgary Stampeders. Afterwards, Austin’s fiery address to the team was clearly audible outside the dressing room.

When Austin emerged, he said: “Everything is up for review — everything — including what we’re doing schematically. It’ll start with the staff first.”

Austin is not one to deflect responsibility when the team’s fortunes wane. He is quick to assume responsibility and emphasize that the coaching staff needs to improve.

One week after Austin’s eruption in Calgary, the Roughriders elevated their performance — only to lose 37-34 to the B.C. Lions. Despite the consequences of that loss, which extinguished any probability of the Roughriders finishing first in the West, Austin noted the upgrade in his team’s performance.

Saskatchewan proceeded to win its next five games and, in so doing, secured the franchise’s first home playoff game since 1988. The Austin-coached Roughriders ended up finishing the regular season with 12 victories — the team’s highest total since 1970.

Austin was not in the mood for celebrating the regular-season success story after such a feeble finale. That said, he understands that the loss can be constructive if the players resolve to improve … and soon. They are to play host to Calgary in the West semifinal on Remembrance Day.

“You can always learn — absolutely,” Austin said. “We need to learn. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose. Obviously, we want to win football games and we wanted to win (Saturday’s) game, but the most important thing right now is what we’re going to take from the game. To think that Calgary doesn’t see some things on film from this game would be pretty naive for us. We’d better go back and re-evaluate everything — personnel, what we’re asking guys to do — and anticipate some of the flaws that we showed trying to be exposed.”

Once again, Austin is putting the onus on all the coaches, himself included.

“I said in the locker room that we have to get better as a staff and we have to make sure that we look at everything across the board — take this game and learn from it, just like we’ve done every week,” Austin said.

“Our job as a staff is to put our players in a position to be successful. That’s what our job is. If we don’t do that to the maximum of our ability, we’ve let our players down. That’s what we ask of our staff and that’s what I ask of myself.”

Roughriders fans can rest easily, knowing that Saturday’s stinker will not rest easily with the head coach.