REGINA - Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Greg Marshall had heard the question before.
The local reporters had heard the answer before, too.
So coach, what's the secret to ending a three-game home losing skid in Friday's showdown with the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium?
"Do you want me to use the same answer I used yesterday -- 'Score more points than the other team?' " Marshall replied.
There seem to be more questions than answers around Mosaic Stadium these days.
The Roughriders have only one victory in six tries so far this season, including three consecutive losses on their own turf.
On Friday night, they'll try to snap out of the funk against the same Stamps squad that handed them a 22-18 loss at the exact same spot less than two weeks ago and has won three in a row on the road.
One Regina-based reporter suggested another setback, especially against a West Division rival such as the Stamps, would be like 'Armageddon' in the Saskatchewan capital.
"We have to play better -- there's no secret," Marshall said after Thursday's practice session. "You just have to play better, particularly at the critical junctures in the game. That's probably the thing that hurt us the last time we played these guys. It was a game that was going to be decided in the fourth quarter, and they made more plays that mattered in the fourth quarter than we did."
You could stand on any street corner in Regina and ask 100 passersby, 'What's wrong with the Riders?' And chances are you'd hear 100 different answers.
Blame the coach.
Blame the quarterback.
Blame the NFL's Chicago Bears for stealing star receiver Andy Fantuz.
One response you wouldn't hear -- and one of the things that makes this such a great city for football -- is, 'Who cares?'
Everybody cares.
And that's not just Regina residents, either. Saskatchewan taxpayers bleed green from Biggar to Broadview, Cadillac to Kamsack and every railstop in between.
"I think the biggest thing from the fans that you see is they're just disappointed. We're disappointed, as well, in how we've performed. We haven't performed to expectations, and I think the fans kind of feel that, too," said Riders defensive end Shomari Williams.
"It's kind of like when your mother is disappointed in you, you know? It kind of hurts your feelings, so you want to go back and please her."
One home victory might not silence the doubters, but it would be a start.
After back-to-back Grey Cup losses to the Montreal Alouettes, the defending champs are the only team the Riders have been able to beat so far.
They haven't been under .500 since August 2006, and now they're suddenly four victories away from just getting back to so-so status.
Frustrated? You bet they are.
"If things don't go right and you continuously lose and you're happy about it, then something is wrong with you," said Riders embattled quarterback Darian Durant. "I definitely am frustrated because of everything that has been happening. It's just been a mixture of things.
"I'm a guy that kind of wears my feelings on my sleeve a bit even though I shouldn't, but that's just part of human nature. So I have been showing a little frustration "¦ I realize that. But this is not a happy time."
Or a happy province.
