HAMILTON -- If you thought the Eskimos didn't show up with their helmets screwed on straight last week ... The Green and Gold gang showed up for this one looking through the ear holes.

Talk about having the heebie-jeebies. Their eyes were rolling. They were drooling. Their knuckles were dragging. This was like a cartoon.

Things went from bad to worse from one half to the other at home against the Toronto Argos last week and all the way to painfully pathetic here last night as the Eskimos continued their free-fall with a thud and another dud to make it three straight losses for the second time this season.

If you just caught the score, maybe you figured it was one of those CFL classics.

Hamilton won it 30-27 with a 47-yard field goal on the last play of the game by Jamie Boreham, a guy who had previously missed three attempts from 15, 15 and 34 yards.

NO BUTS ABOUT IT, IT WAS BUTT UGLY

But it was no classic. It was ugly. No buts about it - butt ugly.

"The only positive I can think of is that we're still alive,'' said head coach Tom Higgins of his suddenly 7-8, squad which is now in very real danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 33 years.

"I expect Winnipeg and Saskatchewan to win their games (today) and put a lot of pressure on,'' said quarterback Jason Maas. "Our season is not over. It's just a lot harder now.''

With 12-1 Montreal next on the menu, the Esks are now in danger of losing four games in a row for the first time since 1990. They left here last night one point ahead of Hamilton and two points ahead of Winnipeg and Saskatchewan with all three teams having a game in hand. Three of the four teams will make the playoffs with the crossover rule. The Eskimos, after Montreal, will visit Taylor Field in Regina where they have always had problems, and end up against Winnipeg.

It just went from scary to very, very scary.

"We were fortunate it was as close as it was,'' said kicker Sean Fleming.

How do you lose a football game in which Tiger-Cat QB Danny McManus tosses three interceptions, personally fumbles another one away and then gets knocked out of the game to give way to a very, very green backup? How do you lose a game to a team that misses two 15-yard field goals?

You have to soil the sheets like an elephant to do it. But the Eskimos did it. How they managed to only be down 18-10 at the half was a major mystery.

Consider this:

- They had the grand total of four first downs.

- Maas completed six passes.

- Jason Tucker, who was diagnosed with dropsy a week earlier, dropped all three passes thrown his way.

- Edmonton had 74 yards of total offence.

- Fleming, who was criticized for not giving it the full effort to stop an Argo return last week, was required to make three tackles to save returns.

- In a three-play sequence, the Eskimos took a procedure penalty, gave up a sack and fumbled the snap.

- Fleming had a 24-yard punt.

- Maas collided with Mike Pringle in an attempt to hand him the ball.

- An Eskimo ran down his own teammate on punt coverage, resulting in a big return.

- An illegal block brought back a Robert Grant interception to the Hamilton seven yard line.

- Clinton Wayne took a major foul a split second after Malcolm Frank stepped into the end zone with his record-breaking fifth touchdown interception return of the season. Wonderful record. What a waste.

Then there was the second half.

- Maas opened the third quarter with a fumble recovered by Pringle.

- The Eskimos offence took their third, fourth and fifth procedure penalties of the game.

- Fleming had a punt blocked.

- The bad snap count hit double figures.

- Maas was intercepted and with 2:24 left, he took a time count violation on second down to force a punt situation after moving the team 40 yards.

IT WAS SLAPSTICK

It was slapstick. Forget about looking like defending Grey Cup champions; the Esks looked strictly sandlot.

"At this time of year and that time of game, to take a time-count violation is just sloppy football,'' said Higgins.

"We missed Tim Prinsen desperately,'' he added of his injured centre. "We put a lot of snaps from the shotgun formation on the ground. Some of our most reliable players are not making plays. Players we believe we can count on, we weren't able to count on.''

Maas admitted it was no masterpiece.

While Grey Cup MVP Tucker would make a touchdown reception to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, his dropped passes took the air out of the team early.

"He won't have anything to tell you,'' said Higgins. "He doesn't know why.''

Tucker refused to talk to the media after the game. No point, he said it all on the field.