Football fans from across the province will be getting green this weekend as they get ready to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the 55th annual Labour Day Classic.

The Riders are currently ranked second in the CFL’s west division and are 6 and 3 on the season. They are trailing their Labour Day rival, the Blue Bombers who are currently holding down first place with a record of 8 and 2.

Despite the standings, the Riders have a proven track record of getting the job done at Labour Day Classics.

Since 1949, the Roughriders have dominated the annual game against the Bombers, winning 36 out of 54 games played. Since 2005, the Bombers have only managed to squeeze out one victory in 2016, winning by 3 points with a final score of 28-25.

The Roughriders have otherwise reigned supreme, with their longest winning streak lasting a decade, spanning from 2005 to 2015.

Rider super-fan, Kevin Genest from Harris, SK, has been bleeding green since 1972 and him and his wife, Donna, have been season ticket holders for the past 11 years. He said Sunday’s game is not going to be an easy one, but he thinks the Riders can get it done.

“The fact that Matt Nichols is hurt and Andrew Harris is suspended is definitely going to help us out a bit but it’s not going to be a mail-in game, but I think they can do it and it’d be great to take the win...again.”

Genest said regardless of the final score, there is one thing that can’t be beat at the Mosaic Stadium or on any CFL football field. Rider fans.

“We are the best fans in the CFL, we hold the bar at a very high level and everyone else has to catch up to us”.

He stated every year bus-loads of Bomber fans make their way into Regina and try and take over and has created a long-standing rivalry, however, Genest said no one can take over Rider fans and it doesn’t hurt that the team in green has largely been on the winning side of the Labour Day Classic games.

Gainer the Gopher won’t be the only costume donned at the annual event either. The Genest’s often dress in theme to the long weekend game, all of course centred around the main theme of green.

With hopes of putting a couple more W’s on the board between the Labour Day Classic and the Banjo Bowl to follow in Winnipeg next weekend, Genest said the Riders are likely to have a playoff run in their future.

“The team is looking really good, Cody Fajardo stepped into the role as starting quarterback, the team has rallied around him and as long as we can keep him upright and not injured, I think we’ll for sure be in the playoffs. Seven of our last nine games are against western opponents and those are tough opponents, but if we can go six and three on the second half of the season and finish at twelve and six, I think it’ll put us in a good spot in the western division, if not first place going into the playoffs.”

Although the weather is looking like it will cooperate for players and fans on Sunday, Genest said he has sat through some pretty brutal weather conditions, getting all four seasons in four-quarters of football at an Edmonton game approximately nine years ago.

Genest said Rider fans are not deterred by the weather and whatever Mother Nature throws their way on Sunday, they will be there, cheering the Roughriders towards their third Labour Day Classic win in a row.