The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Canadian Blood Services have paired up for another year for the Bleed Green Campaign.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have dealt with their lack of depth at defensive end with a trade. They also released two veterans.

The Riders picked up veteran Jermaine McElveen from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in exchange for prospect receiver Lyle Leong Junior.

"He can play end and he can play the three technique," said head coach Corey Chamblin when asked what he liked avout McElveen. "The big thing is the value of being able to play both."

Saskatchewan communities are being challenged to display their Roughrider and Grey Cup pride, as well as their passion for health and wellness.

The 101st Grey Cup Festival announced a new contest offering thousands of dollars in prize money for health and wellness-related initiatives.

"This contest is a great initiative to engage communities from every corner of Saskatchewan to demonstrate their passion for the Riders and their community," said Roughriders president and CEO Jim Hopson

Over 28,000 members of Rider nation have season tickets for the 2013 season.

"I do marvel at it, because it wasn't too many years ago we were sitting at about 7,000 season tickets," said Saskatchewan Roughriders president and CEO Jim Hopson. 

Hopson says they're getting close to the maximum number of season tickets they could sell, but he doesn't anticipate any problems for the walk-up crowd. 

Saskatchewan Roughrider Brent Hawkins is retiring from the CFL.

The import defensive lineman has been with the Riders since 2010. During his CFL career, he played 27 regular season games, three playoff games and the 2010 Grey Cup.

During his first season with the team, he had 31 defensive tackles, four tackles for a loss, three quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries in 13 regular season games.

In 2011, he missed the season after injuring his shoulder during training camp.

The Canadian Football League draft started with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats selecting Linden Gaydosh first overall.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders had the fourth overall pick and selected Eastern Michigan University offensive lineman Corey Watman.

"Interesting part about him is he's been a centre and a guard," said General Manager Brendan Taman. "He's a very talented kid, really hard working kid, he's probably one of the best interviews we've had."

The Saskatchewan Roughriders added to their coaching staff on Thursday.

Cory McDiarmid is the team's new assistant special teams coach. Head coach Corey Chamblin had hinted earlier in the off season that they would be hiring someone for such a position.

McDiarmid joins the Riders after spending the last two seasons with the University of Ottawa as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.

The growing angst and anticipation for the Grey Cup to return to Saskatchewan has created a unique buzz in Saskatoon.

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Roughriders unveiled Riderville North 2013, a series of events in Saskatoon beginning on June 2 when training camp lands at Griffiths Stadium.

Riders’ chairman Roger Brandvold said his team takes pride in having Saskatchewan in its name, and is well aware of green and white fanbase in Saskaton.

Luc Mullinder is calling it a career and he's doing so as a Saskatchewan Roughrider.

The defensive lineman signed a one-day contract with the Green and White to retire with the team that he played with for eight of his nine CFL seasons.

Mullinder was drafted by the Riders in the fourth round of the CFL draft in 2004. Most of his career was providing incredible depth to the defensive line as he picked up 88 tackles and 15 sacks in his career in Saskatchewan. He was traded near the start of the 2011 season to Montreal and he also played with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.