REGINA -- Forecasting the weather here is easy. It's whatever hit Edmonton 24 hours earlier plus wind. "If that's the case, blowing snow and a complete whiteout,'' said quarterback Jason Maas when the Eskimos arrived late and went directly to their hotel instead of to Taylor Field.

The Eskimos, who had to dig themselves out to get to the airport and fly here yesterday, know exactly what they're going to be dealing with today. Classic Canadian football weather.

"This is how Canadian football is meant to be played. Blowing snow. Hard to throw and hard to catch,'' said Maas, the quarterback who has wintered in Edmonton for two seasons, figuring there would be a time and place where it might pay off.

"To be honest, I haven't played in blowing snow before. But back in April, when there was grass on the ground, we had two days of driving snow and I was out there throwing to get used to it.''

YOU BETTER BE PREPARED

You come to this league, you better be prepared to play in these conditions when it matters most. And it matters big time to these two teams playing for second place and, most likely, the right to play each other again in the CFL West semifinal in the winner's stadium three weeks from now.

In other words, if you're the Esks, win this one and you won't have to come back and do it again in the same conditions and -20 degrees C instead of maybe -2 degrees C.

"It's the trademark of playing on the Prairies,'' said head coach Tom Higgins.

"When I woke up, there were 24 centimetres of snow on the ground. I actually had to shovel my car out this morning.''

Saskatchewan coach Danny Barrett says this should be one of those games that playing in the CFL is all about.

"Everybody knows what's at stake. We're ready for whatever weather we're going to get. We have a 'whatever it takes' team.'

You can analyse a game all week but when the weather hits like it's expected to hit here overnight and this morning, it becomes a different game.

The key to Eskimos' success here will be to stop running back Kenton Keith.

The hero of last year's Saskatchewan semi-final win in Winnipeg, Keith has been the CFL player of the week the past two weeks. He's only played 11 games since returning from the New York Jets training camp and yet has managed 1,124 yards rushing.

He has six 100-yard games, including an 18-carry 161-yard day against the Montreal Alouettes the last time out.

Keith knows what he's going to face in terms of extra attention.

"They've already been doing that,'' said Keith, one member of the Roughriders unable to talk about the atmosphere in this city going into this game.

"I stay at home all day every day,'' he says. "There's nothing to do.''

He's a Saskatchewan shut-in who can't wait to break out in a big way like he did in his spectacular three-touchdown 140-yard semifinal performance last year.

"I'm a big-game player, man,'' he said as he huddled in a parka on the frigid Taylor Field sidelines here yesterday.

"I feel I always show up for the big game.''

SHUT DOWN IN THE FINAL

Last year, after his spectacular semifinal, the Eskimos shut him down in the final at Commonwealth Stadium. Like a lot of players in this league, there's the suggestion he's allergic to that grass. The Eskimos would love to stop him now so they can get him on grass in Edmonton in three weeks.

"He's the type of guy who just wants the ball in his hands. In Edmonton this year it was a soggy, slippery, wet field but he held his own,'' argued Barrett of Keith's 105-yard effort in a game the Roughriders lost by 24 points, a figure they'd have to make up in this game to take second place outright here today.

"He can play on any surface and be effective. Obviously they're going to try to shut down our running game. But they won't be the first to try to do that. We establish the line of scrimmage. Kenton has a lot of confidence in the guys upfront. He's fast. You can't coach speed. He's a little stronger this year, too. His vision is incredible. He's very creative and confident in his abilities.''

Coach Higgins says even in balmy conditions one thing is true with the Roughriders. "As their running attack goes is how they go.''

Defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall admits the Eskimos aren't likely to win this if Keith has a big game.

"Obviously, stopping him is not an easy task. He's been on a tear lately. It's a tough challenge for us. The biggest thing for our front seven is to tackle well.

"On a nasty day like we're expecting, it's two different games depending on who has the wind.

"We can let them use Keith to control the clock. It becomes more important to stop him with nasty weather conditions.''

Higgins says Mike Pringle is the man on a day like today.

"I'll take Mike Pringle. I'll take a north-south runner, not a guy who can dance. I'll take the power runner.''

Even in football, you don't want to have a power outage on a day like today.