When Vernon Adams has a bad game, it tends to be a really bad one — like the six-interception performance he endured earlier this year in Toronto.

But when the B.C. Lions quarterback plays at his best, he reaches a level few in the CFL can. Take last weekend, when he threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-9 thrashing of Calgary that kept B.C. in a tie for the West lead with Winnipeg.

Adams shoots for an encore performance Sunday when the Lions (7-2) visit Saskatchewan for the teams’ second meeting of 2023.

A fast start was the key for Adams last week. He hit 12 of his first 13 passes for 156 yards, blowing holes in a Stampeders defense that in its previous game, put the clamps on previously unbeaten Toronto in a 20-7 victory.

It was the bounce-back performance coach Rick Campbell wanted to see from his team after it was routed 50-14 on Aug. 3 in Winnipeg.

“We always talked about how the problem was not getting knocked down; the problem was getting back up,” he said. “So really, credit to our players that a great week paid off in the game.”

That’s a page in the book the Roughriders (4-5) want to tear out for this game. They absorbed a 41-12 beating last week in Montreal to fall under .500 and lost quarterback Mason Fine to a right hamstring injury in the second quarter.

Jake Dolegala, who will get the start against B.C., offered little relief behind an offensive line that offered him little protection. And a defense that didn’t have to face Alouettes starting quarterback Cody Fajardo or starting running back William Stanback was gashed for 186 yards on the ground.

“It felt like they came out and really smashed us on that opening kickoff return and really physically got after us the whole game,” Saskatchewan coach Craig Dickenson said. “We just had to match their intensity and didn’t do it. You could tell they were really playing hard and physical and we just couldn’t match that physicality.”

B.C. earned a 19-9 win over the Roughriders last month in Vancouver.

–Field Level Media