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Roughriders hit the field for Day 1 of regular season practice

Article content Trevor Harris felt like a kid on Christmas on Sunday. Article content Article content With the CFL pre-season in the books, the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback — back for his 13th season in the CFL — and the rest of his teammates hit the field at Mosaic Stadium for Day 1 of practice in Week 1 of a brand-new season. Article content 'Everybody kind of longs for that feeling of waking up Christmas morning not knowing what Santa Claus brought you,' Harris said ahead of Saskatchewan's season opener on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN) against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks. 'And that's what football season is. It still gives me butterflies in my stomach coming out here to practice every single day.' Article content For Harris, who is one of Saskatchewan's many returning veterans, he's grateful to be back under centre for a third year with the Roughriders after missing time with separate knee injuries in back-to-back years. Article content 'When you strap the helmet on, you feel like you're a kid out here,' said Harris, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Saturday. 'I don't feel my age. Article content 'There's been a lot of times where I didn't know when the next snap (would be) or if it was going to happen, or when it was going to happen, and a lot of times where I thought it was going to be done. Article content 'I'm just really, really thankful that I'm here and getting the opportunity to be the quarterback this franchise. It's something that I'll never take for granted.' Article content Following two pre-season games and an 18-day training camp, the Roughriders were forced to make roster decisions on Saturday as the team cut 17 players, added 11 to the practice roster, returned five to school and suspended one. Article content And while it was an exciting day for some of the players to find out they had made the team, there were also some tough conversations with the players who were let go. Article content 'You get to know these guys on a little bit of a deeper level and you know that's our decision to do that, knowing that the inevitable of just making final cuts, but it never makes it easier,' said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. 'It's not an awesome day, until you get that first team meeting.' Article content Article content While the biggest names who were released were twin linebackers Justin and Jordan Herdman-Reed, the Roughriders found a way to keep all four quarterbacks on the roster with Harris, Jake Maier, Tommy Stevens and Jack Coan all sticking around. Article content 'When you have good quarterbacks, you don't let them go,' said Harris. 'I think that there's quite a few guys that could be franchise quarterbacks in that room. Article content 'I think we're all learning from each other, and I think that everybody's better than us in some way, and in that, we're always learning.' Article content While Harris is the unquestioned starter, Maier provides solid experience as a backup while Stevens will handle short-yardage duties. Coan, in his second year, appears to be a promising prospect the Roughriders want to keep around to develop.