The Saskatchewan Roughriders may have a secret weapon. They just don’t know it.

“I’m responsible for two of the Riders Gray Cup appearances and one championship,” said Bryan Smith, a Roughriders superfan. “You are welcome.”

While most fans will be glued to the action when the Riders host the BC Lions in Saturday’s playoff action, Smith said he realized late this season that he can help the team in another way: not watching them play.

“Every time I looked I realized they were losing,” he said. “So I stopped for a few games to see what happened and they basically won every time.”

Smith has cerebral palsy. He cannot walk and uses a wheelchair to get around. But he feels he doesn’t need to be on the field to influence the Roughriders’ performance.

A connection from birth

Smith feels his presence has influenced the Riders throughout their lives.

He was born on November 11, 1989. A day later, the Roughriders defeated the Calgary Stampeders in the West semifinals.

The following week, they defeated the heavily favored Edmonton Eskimos in the West final.

While Dave Ridgway was lining up for a play that would become known as “The Kick,” Smith was peacefully napping in his crib.

The kick was good and the Roughriders won their second Gray Cup championship.

Like Harry Potter, Smith didn’t understand what was happening to him initially. Then he made another connection.

In 1997, he met Riders quarterback Reggie Slack. That season, the Riders managed to sneak into the playoffs with a 9-9 record. Once in the playoffs, Slack used his legs and quarterback option to propel the Riders to a Gray Cup appearance.

“I inspired Reggie’s greatness,” Smith said.

Despite Slack’s miraculous play, they came up short in the 1997 Gray Cup.

Two years after Smith “helped” Reggie Slack lead the Riders to a Gray Cup appearance, he and his family became season ticket holders. Like many families in Saskatchewan, the Roughriders became a family affair for the Smiths.

The Smith family sat upstairs on the west side, but they couldn’t get a wheelchair in the area.

“We would park my chair under the stairs and my dad would take me to my seat,” Smith said.

Smith’s Rider fandom peaked during the 2013 season, when the Riders won at home.

“It was like nothing else mattered and we could all be happy,” he said.

In the years since, like other superstitious fans, Smith has tried different techniques to help his team win, sporting different jerseys, haircuts, and even changing directions in hopes of helping the team win.

Stephen Safinuk, host of the Piffles Podcast focused on the Saskatchewan Roughriders, said superstitions are common among sports fans.

He said he has a friend who refuses to wear a certain hat on game days because he feels it is related to the Riders’ losses. He himself has avoided wearing a shirt with a player’s name on it, as he feels they tend to get injured or be excluded from the team after he does so.

“I have a curse about the shirt,” he said, laughing.

These beliefs tie people more closely to their team, he said.

“It’s just another way for fans to feel a part of the games, that they have something to do with the outcome.”

The power of keeping the television off

Nothing seemed to work for Smith until this season, when he took the risk of not seeing the team play. He decided not to watch the Sept. 20 game against Calgary. When the Riders won, ending a seven-week winless streak, it solidified his decision to avoid watching.

Smith checks the scoreboard when the Riders play, but otherwise goes about his life.

It was all sunshine and rainbows until last week, when the Riders lost the regular-season finale to Calgary, but Smith can dismiss that outcome in his mind since the starters didn’t play.

The team’s playoff game against the Lions on Saturday marks a big day for the city and all Riders fans, he said. After a few years of struggles for the team, Smith feels there is a sense of nervous anticipation about what might happen.

“It’s great to see them in the playoffs and give people that renewed optimism, including me,” he said.

There is no doubt that several of the team’s loyal fans will do their part to maintain the team’s winning path by following their own superstitions.

For Smith, of course, that will mean doing anything but tuning into the game, while also keeping his hopes of winning high.

“Even though I’m not watching, I’m still cheering.”