  The Standard Model (SM), when extended with a leptoquark (LQ) and
right-handed neutrinos, can have interesting new implications for Higgs
physics. We show that sterile neutrinos can induce a boost to the down-type
quark Yukawa interactions through a diagonal coupling associated with the
quarks and a scalar LQ of electromagnetic charge $1/3$. The relative change is
moderately larger in the case of the first two generations of quarks, as they
have vanishingly small Yukawa couplings in the SM. The enhancement in the
couplings would also lead to a non-negligible contribution from the quark
fusion process to the production of the 125 GeV Higgs scalar in the SM, though
the gluon fusion always dominates. However, this may not be true for a general
scalar. As an example, we consider a scenario with a SM-gauge-singlet scalar
$\phi$ where an $\mathcal O(1)$ coupling between $\phi$ and the LQ is allowed.
The $\phi q \bar{q}$ Yukawa couplings can be generated radiatively only through
a loop of LQ and sterile neutrinos. Here, the quark fusion process can have a
significant cross section, especially for a light $\phi$. It can even supersede
the normally dominant gluon fusion process for a moderate to large value of the
LQ mass. This model can be tested/constrained at the high luminosity run of the
LHC through a potentially large branching fraction of the scalar to two jets.
