It seems every week the Calgary Stampeders saddle up to play a team on a heater in the 2025 Canadian Football League campaign.
Next up for the Horsemen, now losers of four straight tilts? The East Division-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats, winners of four of their last five contests.
It follows what were two losses to the surging BC Lions — now on a four-game winning run — sandwiched around a drop to the Montreal Alouettes — themselves also winners of three consecutive contests.
It’s all just bad timing for a team that’s lost its confidence and trying to stop a sudden free-fall in the standings.
“Coach said a good thing,” said Stampeders QB Vernon Adams Jr., of wisdom delivered by Dave Dickenson in the wake of Saturday’s 38-24 loss to the host Lions. “He said, ‘Hey, let’s just get back to work. Man … forget all the talking and everything everyone wants to say, and let’s just try to get back to work.’
“It’s just we gotta get back to work. We’ve gotta work harder and smarter and be prepared for our next opponent.”
That’s the host Tiger-Cats in Week 19 …
RelatedWhat’s next for the Stamps?
Look out! It’s, indeed, another foe running hot they’ll have to contend with Saturday in Hamilton (1 p.m., TSN, CHQR 770 AM/107.3 FM the Edge).
The Tiger-Cats (10-6) lead the East and have already qualified for the CFL playoffs thanks to a rise of four Ws in five games.
Last week, they clubbed the Toronto Argonauts 47-29 in The Big Smoke. It was a bounce-back from their only blip of the last five weeks — a strange 40-3 defeat at the hands of the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
And it was viewed as a top-shelf performance, as they swept the Pro Football Focus weekly awards. QB Bo Levi Mitchell, defensive lineman Julian Howsare and the Hamilton Tiger Cats’ offensive line topped the PFF grade for Week 18.
Prior to that loss to the Bombers on the road, the Ticats earned consecutive wins over the host Edmonton Elks 29-27, the visiting Blue Bombers 32-21 and the host Montreal Alouettes 26-9.
That’s, of course, in stark contrast to the downward trend of the Stamps, who are smarting — despite a brave comeback bid put up in the fourth quarter — from a second loss in three weeks to the Lions.
“They were the better team (Saturday),” Dickenson told reporters, when praising the Lions. “But our guys kept fighting, and to get it back to a one-score game and have the ball, that was something — something to build on.
“But still, we gotta play better. We understand that. But I believe in this room and I believe in this team — they know that — and hopefully, we turn the corner, get some wins and get some momentum.”
What does a win mean for the Stamps?
One win is all they need to clinch a playoff spot.
That decision Saturday dropped the Stamps (8-7) from second spot in the CFL’s West Division — where they have been perched most of the year — into third place but kept them from securing a berth in the post-season.
It’s now come down to two last playoff slots available for three teams — the Stamps, the Bombers (8-7) and the Elks (6-9). And the Stamps own the tiebreaker with the Bombers.
Plus Dickenson’s charges have a favourable schedule going forward, with two games left following Saturday’s affair …
• at home versus the Toronto Argonauts (5-11) on Saturday, Oct. 18 (5 p.m.)
• and on the road against the Elks on Friday, Oct. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
A couple of losses by the Elks, who host the Bombers on Sunday, would also clinch a playoff spot for the Stamps.
What do the Tiger-Cats bring to the game?
They have confidence — something the Stamps are missing these days.
Both on offence and defence.
The loss by Adams & Co. last Saturday wasn’t a surprise, given the lack of confidence of the club and its quarterback in the lead-up to the West Coast affair combined with how QB Nathan Rourke and the Lions have been torching opponents as of late.
The Leos are the top-scoring team in the CFL with 495 points.
And guess who’s next? It’s the Ticats with 470, behind Bo Levi — the former Stamps superstar — who tops the league in nearly every passing category. Mitchell has 382 completions for 4,726 yards and 32 touchdowns against nearly nine interceptions — all better stats than even heralded Rourke.
So it’s yet another all-star arm — for the fourth straight game — the Stampeders have to contend with when lining up Saturday at Tim Hortons Field.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell (19) during CFL action against the Edmonton Elks in Hamilton, Ont., Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025.
“This is frustrating,” Stampeders defensive leader Damon Webb told Stamps TV about the struggles his unit has endured over the last month-plus. “But … you know … we all brothers and it’s all love. So we know that we can get up on each other and we can have these conversations with each other on the sideline and nobody can take offence to it and nobody gets mad, because we’re all trying to achieve the same goal.
“So we all can take constructive criticism and we all brothers.”
What’s the plan heading into Hamilton?
They have to build off the positives, given the confidence they created in the first half of the season has taken a massive hit.
And the biggest positive they can draw from the latest loss is how they fought back in nearly pulling off a comeback against the Lions.
Down 31-9 early in the fourth quarter, the Stamps pulled to within a TD with five minutes remaining.
But the Lions scored insurance on a three-play drive late to beat back the Red and White rally.
“Yeah … just a little too late,” a dejected Adams told reporters. “We have the fight … you know? I’m saying we have that in us. It’s just if we can get it started a little bit earlier — maybe get seven points instead of three — and a lot of it’s on me.
“I don’t know what it is, man, but I’m just trying to shake it and just trying to be better. That’s it, and that’s all I can do, is just get back to work. Just get back to work, put my head down and lead by example.”
And build off the late-game success in B.C.
“Most definitely — that’s what I tell all the guys,” added Webb. “Let’s try to build off this rally. That gave us momentum to like how we’re used to playing. We just need to build off of this and go on to the next game.”
Short yardage
The Stampeders have released American DB Tyler Richardson. In 17 games over two seasons with the Red and White, Richardson accumulated 63 defensive tackles, three special-teams stops and one interception … The Stamps have added American RB Antario Brown to their practice roster. The 5-foot-10, 221-lb. native of Savannah, Ga., played 41 games over four NCAA seasons with the Northern Illinois Huskies. He accumulated 3,090 rushing yards with the Huskies, including 1,296 as a junior in 2023 as he earned first-team all-Mid-American Conference honours. Brown, 22, had 26 career rushing touchdowns at NIU and also had 21 catches for 263 yards and two scores.
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