Win one for The Don has become the Montreal Alouettes rallying cry.

It will be put to the test Thanksgiving Day, when the Alouettes (8-6) play host to the Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-7) at Percival Molson Stadium (CBC, 1 p.m. ET) without head coach Don Matthews, who resigned this week due to stress and anxiety.

``It's been a privilege to play under coach Matthews for five years and, you know what? We want to finish this thing off with a Grey Cup win and dedicate this second half of the season to him,'' rush end Anwar Stewart said Sunday.

``He deserves it. Being one of the greatest coaches ever in the CFL, and for him to go out with a health problem, we want to win this thing _ not just for us, but for him also.''

General manager Jim Popp will be looking for his first win as a head coach after going 0-2 when he filled in for the fired Rod Rust at the end of the 2001 season.

The Alouettes gave no details of Matthews' health problem when his resignation was announced on Wednesday, but the 67-year-old coach told Montreal La Presse he had been on medication this season to control performance anxiety.

Matthews said he had cold sweats and fatigue at the idea of going to the stadium and decided he couldn't go on. He also told the newspaper he was feeling better resting at home without worrying about football.

Matthews, who took Montreal to the Grey Cup game in three of the last four seasons, has a league-record 231 regular season coaching wins and has won five Grey Cups.

His final game was a win last week in Winnipeg that ended a six-game losing streak, the longest of his career, and now the Alouettes will try to win without him.

The new regime was evident at Sunday's news conference.

Matthews insisted on being the only coach to talk to the media, but Popp had defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones and offensive co-ordinator Kevin Strasser with him at the regular day-before-a-game session.

Popp has mostly stood aside and let the assistant coaches prepare the team for the Roughriders.

``We've gone through a lot of media attention this week and there are many ways in which this is a big game,'' Popp said. ``Coach Matthews will be in our hearts.

``We'll always hold him in high regard in this organization. Our staff has done a remarkable job this week preparing the players, but we've still got a football game to play.''

No one expects any major changes to the roster or the game plan, but it remains to be seen how Matthews' forceful presence will be missed.

``I imagine the pre-game speech will be a little more, how can I say it, PG-rated,'' veteran receiver Ben Cahoon said with a grin. ``Jim Popp and coach Matthews were together so many years, there's going to be a lot of similarities.

``If I were a coach on this team, I'd want to emulate the winningest coach in the CFL, so there won't be too many changes that I foresee.''

Linebacker Duane Taylor, cornerback Darrel Crutchfield, fullback Mike Vilimek and rush end R-Kal Truluck are back from injuries while linebacker Louis Mackey, rush end D.D. Acholonu slotback Shaun Diner and lineman Jarome Heywood are out with injuries.

Jones said it has been business as usual for his defensive corps despite a hectic week, which included speculation over who will be head coach next season.

``We have one job to do and that's to get the defence to play as a good as it can,'' he said. ``It's a football game. I won't let it be a distraction.''

The Roughriders had a similar experience this season when GM Roy Shivers was fired Aug. 21 and replaced by Eric Tillman. The Riders responded by winning three of four before a 30-25 loss to Edmonton last weekend.

Quarterback Kerry Joseph said the Alouettes will be just as tough to beat without Matthews.

``They're a professional football team and regardless of changes that go on in the front office, you can't control that,'' quarterback Kerry Joseph said. ``When it happened to us, we couldn't control that.

``Your focus is on football, so they're going to come out and play.''

Saskatchewan is four points behind second-place Calgary in the West Division with two games in hand and is four ahead of fourth-place Edmonton.

The pressure is on for the Riders to finish in the top two and host a playoff game for the first time since 1988 and they wanted everything right in Montreal.

In last year's playoffs, they travelled the day before the game and their plane was delayed on a connecting flight, so they arrived less than 24 hours before game time and lost handily.

This time, coach Danny Barret made sure they flew in two days before.

``I really think it will make a difference to us in being physically ready to go,'' said Barrett.

Barrett would not say who his starting quarterback would be.

Joseph left five minutes into the third quarter last week after hit on the knee from Edmonton's Steve Charbonneau, but he said the knee was fine. Back-up Rocky Butler is also ready to play.

The teams will have only three days off before meeting again Friday night in Regina.

Popp's CFL career started in Regina, where he was receivers coach and director of player personnel for two seasons in the early 1990s before joining the Baltimore Stallions. He moved with the Stallions to Montreal in 1996.