The Edmonton Eskimos' post-season path will have to pass through a pair of vastly different destinations if they hope to reach the Grey Cup.
Their first stop will be at McMahon Stadium in Sunday's West semifinal against the Calgary Stampeders -- to whom they've lost three straight.
With a win in Calgary, Edmonton's next stop would be Regina's Mosaic Stadium, where the Eskimos won twice this season.
Calgary and Saskatchewan faced off last Saturday to decide the Esks' playoff route.
"In order for us to get to where we want to be we've got to go through both of those teams anyway, so we're just happy to finish in third place and stay in the West," Eskimos head coach Richie Hall said yesterday. "This is where we wanted to be."
Although the Eskimos are 0-2 at McMahon so far this season and 1-4 against the Stampeders overall, that was the regular season. This is the playoffs.
The last post-season Battle of Alberta was a 33-26 Eskimos victory in 2005.
"It really doesn't matter right now, the way we're going," said Eskimos centre Aaron Fiacconi.
"I don't have any preference. I mean, we've got to go through them regardless, so first come, first served."
The Eskimos are coming off a two-game winning streak that saw them rush for a combined 286 yards and outscore the opposition 81-23.
Of course, that opposition was only the lowly 3-15 Toronto Argonauts and a Lions squad that had its fifth-string quarterback in for half the game.
"If people are concerned with who you play, like people said regarding Toronto, well then no one should have played Toronto this year if that's the way people thought about it," Hall said.
"If B.C. thought that they couldn't win without (Casey) Printers, then only dress one quarterback.
"The reality is that you're going to line up with the guys that give you the best chance to win.
"I look at it as it's not who we played against, it's how we played. Regardless of if Printers played or didn't play, we still rushed for 260 yards, we still had over 500 yards of offence, we still put up (45) points. That's part of the game."
Hall has yet to make any excuses about losing, and he's not about to start coming up with any over wins.
"I'm all about not making excuses one way or the other," he said.
"We're not sitting there trying to say this is the reason why we won. We went out there and played very well for 60 minutes regardless."
It's that exact effort they'll need Sunday in Calgary, where points have been few and far between in 32-8 and 30-7 losses, with just one touchdown.
"The last time that we played, going into the fourth quarter the score was 16-7," Hall recalled.
"We were still one play from being in the football game but we never took that next step.
"The bottom line is you've got to be able to score points."
Negating the crowd factor from the Stampeders' home-field advantage would be a big help, too.
"That's going in and establishing yourself early," Hall said. "Scoring points, moving the ball, getting them to two-and-outs, getting them to where we're playing with the lead."
Edmonton did it last week in B.C. by countering the Lions' field goals with touchdowns.
"There were some cheers. They were purrs more so than the roar, so that was never a factor," Hall said.
"We know the crowd is going to be a factor (this week), but we can control that by going out there and establishing ourselves."
GERRY.MODDEJONGE@SUNMEDIA.CA
