Stampeders look to run the table at home with win over sinking Argos

CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts have very different motivations heading into their game at McMahon Stadium on Friday night.

While the Stampeders (14-1-1) want to cap off an undefeated season at home, the Argonauts (5-11) need a win just to keep their microscopic playoff hopes alive.

Having already clinched top spot in the CFL and the right to host the West Division final, the Stampeders have set a goal of winning four more games — two in the regular season and two more in the playoffs.

By beating Toronto on Friday, Calgary will become just the seventh team in CFL history to go 9-0 at home, a feat the Stamps accomplished in both 1993 and 1994.

“One thing we’ve all talked about is if we go undefeated at home, we can go to the Grey Cup and that’s a big deal for us,” said quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who set a CFL record with his 13th consecutive win last week in a 22-8 victory over Montreal. “I think we’ve been resilient all year. I think guys have stepped in and done their job. I think our coaching staff, honestly, has done the best job in the league of getting everybody ready, no matter who it is, every single week.”

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Rookie Stamps coach Dave Dickenson commended the fans in Calgary for providing motivation for his players during their home games.

“I thought like we’ve had some energy from them and that sort of thing,” said Dickenson. “I’m looking forward to just going out here and finishing what we started. We did talk about protecting our house, like every other team I’m sure.”

Running back Jerome Messam said the Stamps want to reward fans by winning their 14th straight decision while extending their undefeated streak to 16.

“It means a lot to know we’ve worked hard all year,” said Messam. “We’ve tried to protect on home field and I think we’ve done that, so if we go out there and close out the Argonauts, we’re going to do that. It’ll be good to make history.”

Meanwhile, the Argos not only need to beat the Stamps, they need the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to lose their road game to the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday to remain in the playoff picture in the East Division.

“There’s still a slight window of opportunity for us,” said running back Brandon Whitaker. “Of course, we need a little bit of help, but that help doesn’t mean anything unless we go out and do our job. We’ve still got a chance to sneak in and it would be a heck of a story to come back and make history pretty much. That’s our mentality going in and we’re just going to execute and try and beat the best team in the league.”

The Argos will have quarterback Ricky Ray back calling the shots this week, while Drew Willy sits out with an injury to his throwing shoulder.

“At this point we felt like it was better to get Ricky back in there and let Drew kind of heal up and get (Ray) a little more time with our offence,” said Toronto coach Scott Milanovich, who’s hoping Ray’s return can provide a spark for his slumping squad against the high-flying Stamps. “For us to come in here and play well and knock them off would be a nice feather in our cap.”

Although Ray hasn’t played since suffering a deflated lung and fractured rib in Toronto’s 49-36 Labour Day loss to the Hamilton, the veteran quarterback is confident he can lead the Argos to an upset win.

“That’s what we’re looking to do is to come here and get a win against the best team in the league and obviously keep our hopes alive,” said Ray. “It’s going to be tough. Obviously, they’re playing great. They have been all year. I feel like we’ve played pretty well coming out here in my time in Toronto, so hopefully we can keep that going.”

Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press