Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Kerry Joseph would like to create some sleepless nights for the Calgary Stampeders. But first, Joseph must contend with his own extended evenings.

On a restless Friday night, and well into Saturday morning, the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback pondered the looming CFL West Division semifinal against the Stampeders.

“Last night was a different experience for me because I was up around three in the morning, for some reason,” Joseph said Saturday on Taylor Field.

“I was lying in my bed just thinking about Calgary — thinking about their defence and plays that we want to execute against them. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I finally picked up my Bible and started reading because I knew that I’d go to sleep if I started reading. I don’t know about tonight. I’m going to see.

“Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight. It’s going to be a lot of anxiety because you can’t wait to get out here tomorrow and get going.”

Joseph is preparing for his third CFL playoff game, all with Saskatchewan. Did the other two also incite insomnia?

“It is a bit different (this year),” said Joseph, who helped Saskatchewan win 12 regular-season games — the team’s highest total since 1970 — while being named the West’s most outstanding player.

“I just think that we truly have something special this year and we have a great opportunity in front of us. You just want to be well-prepared and making sure everything is in place and all your assignments are in place. That was just one of the reasons I was up last night. You’re going to get your rest. You need your rest. It’s a four o’clock game so you have time to rest tomorrow morning, also, so it’s going to be OK. It’s a big game, but it’s going to be a fun game.”

Linebacker Reggie Hunt shares Joseph’s impatience.

“I can’t even stop moving right now,” said Hunt, a West Division all-star. “I’m ready. I’m anxious. I can’t wait for this game to start tomorrow. I’ve been waiting, too. I’ve been here for six years and been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs every year, but we haven’t been able to host a playoff game. I’m extremely excited about tomorrow.”

Hunt joined the Roughriders in 2002 — the same year that Saskatchewan made the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

Over those six seasons, Saskatchewan has enjoyed some successes. The Roughriders have participated in three of the past four West finals, losing on each occasion.

The Roughriders came agonizingly close to a Grey Cup berth in 2004, falling 27-25 in overtime to the B.C. Lions in the West final. But that year was also the first of three straight in which Saskatchewan posted a 9-9 record.

The Green and White’s inability to ascend above that plateau resulted in the departures of general manager Roy Shivers (who was replaced by Eric Tillman in August of 2006) and head coach Danny Barrett (who was succeeded by Kent Austin late last year).

“I think coach Austin has come in and done a phenomenal job in getting each and every guy on this team to believe and be accountable for each other’s actions,” Hunt said. “We’ve got a tremendous amount of faith in each other on this team. We’re fighting for each other on this team and I’m excited about that.”

How has Austin ingrained that attitude?

“If I knew that, I would be the head coach,” Hunt said with a chuckle. “I don’t know. There’s just something about him.

“He has been there, done that. What better coach to have here than somebody who has actually been in this situation? I think the last time they hosted a playoff game, he was a quarterback here. He was a tremendous quarterback in his time and he’s a tremendous coach right now.”