Thursday night was a complete 180 for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from their dominating performance in Week 1.

The Riders dropped a 40-17 game to the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday to fall to 1-1 on the young CFL season.

Saskatchewan's defence was the star of their win over the Toronto Argonauts last week, but the Redblacks came in prepared and executed against the Riders' D all night.

"You can look at the scoreboard and tell that the defence didn't play very well, anytime you give up 40 points that's not a very good night," said Riders head coach Chris Jones after the game.

"You have to give their offence credit, they were able to keep us off balance, they were able to run the ball effectively and they blocked our front, so you have to give them all the credit in the world, they're a very good offence."

Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris finished with 345 passing yards and two touchdowns in the victory, while running back William Powell carved up the Riders for 118 total yards and two touchdowns.

The Riders were dealt a blow early in the second quarter when starting quarterback Zach Collaros went into the concussion protocol and didn't return to the game.

Collaros was 4-of-10 for 106 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions before leaving. Brandon Bridge finished the game, going 13-of-22 for 145 yards and an interception.

"He's got to take care of the football and can't throw the ball off his back foot," said Jones on Bridge's play in relief.

"We weren't able to get pressure and they were," added Jones. "They were able to get pressure on our quarterback, move us off our spot and that's the difference in the game is their ability to run the football, our inability to run the football effectively early in the game and then they effected our quarterback and we didn't effect theirs."

Bridge said he was ready to come in and will be ready to go moving forward if needed.

"I found my rhythm after a couple of series, the throw I'd love to take back was the interception, they ran cover zero and I've just got to give Caleb Holley a better chance," said Bridge.

"I didn't expect to go in early last year, so you've always got to be ready, prepare as if you're a starter, so I was prepared like I was going to take that first snap."

Saskatchewan was right in the game early on. Despite their offence sputtering, the Riders' defence was able to hold the Redblacks to field goals on their first two drives.

Collaros connected with Jordan Lambert-Williams for a 32-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to give Saskatchewan a 7-6 lead after one.

Collaros' next pass didn’t end so well as Jonathan Rose picked off the Riders quarterback and returned it for a touchdown to put Ottawa in front 14-7 after a two-point convert.

After Saskatchewan's offence couldn’t answer on the next drive, Duron Carter took matters into his own hands as he intercepted Harris and returned it for a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.

Carter has now started two games on defence and had a pick-six in both games.

It was all-Ottawa after that however, Powell scampered in for a 15-yard touchdown and Lewis Ward hit his third field goal of the first half to make it 25-14 for the Redblacks at halftime.

Diontae Spencer got behind Carter for a 56-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter and the Redblacks were rolling from there. They would lead 33-14 at the end of the third and tack on another score in the fourth.

Jones said that Carter will be staying at quarterback for the near future, "It's a tough game, he was going against a very good player in Diontae Spencer, who made one play against him, and playing DB isn't always glamorous and that's part of, you have to take the good with the bad over there," he said.

Tre Mason led the Riders in rushing with 33 yards on seven carries, mostly coming in the fourth quarter. He had runs of 21 and 16 yards on the final drive of the game.

Holley was the Riders' top receiver with three catches for 71 yards, while Shaq Evans had four grabs for 56 yards.

The Riders will get some time off before their game next week as they don't return to the field until next Saturday when they host the Montreal Alouettes at Mosaic Stadium.