Football partisans at Portage and Main might be in mourning on Monday, but the entire province of Alberta, tip to tip, stem to stern, could not be more amped.

“I just think Edmonton’s playing as good as anybody,’’ said coach Dave Dickenson, shortly after the Eskimos punched their ticket to Sunday’s Western Final against his Calgary Stampeders by trimming the Blue Bombers 39-32 at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.

“You got into the back half of the year, you rank teams, and you’re probably putting them as good, or better, than anybody.

“Be interesting to see what the oddsmakers do but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re the underdog. That’d be strange, winning the West and being at home and still being the underdog.

“But it might actually happen.”

The 13-4-1 Stamps and the 12-6 Eskimos collide with a Grey Cup trip on the line for the third time in four years – in 2014 the Stampeders parlayed their success into a Grey Cup championship and a year later the Eskimos did the same thing.

Historically, the Stamps and Eskimos have met 12 previous times in the division final with each team winning six times. In overall playoff head-to-heads, the Eskimos hold a slim 12-11 edge.

Calgary claimed the 2017 seasonal series 2-1.

Having been awaiting word on an opponent for a  week now, the Stamps are happy to at least have a definitive adversary to game-plan for, instead of a choice of two.

“Playing the two teams the last two weeks of the season, we knew who they are,’’ said Dickenson. “We knew that they’re good teams.

“The prep work has kinda already been done but now you can tighten it up and try to get a precise plan.”

The Eskimos were driven forward Sunday – no surprise here – by a superb second half from their tungsten-tough quarterback Mike Reilly, who wound up throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns, two of those to Adarius Bowman.

One of the wild-card additions that makes the Esks even more dangerous is undoubtedly ex-Tiger Cat tailback C.J. Gable, who reeled off 107 yards, a 6.7 average per tote and two touchdowns to help slay the Bombers.

“He played really well,’’ agreed Dickenson. “Big, can catch, can block. Kind of the type of back we’ve had in our system for years now. And he’s tough. He’s a downhill runner who can run between the tackles.

“Offensively, they’re with the best. Great receivers, great quarterback, O-line’s playing well and now you plug in that running back, all of that presents a big challenge for our defence.”

The keys to victory Sunday, in Dickenson’s mind, are as old as the Battle of Alberta rivalry itself.

“I just think you win and lose games with your quarterback,’’ said Dickenson, “and they’ve got a guy who wills them to win. We do, too. The next thing is you win and lose up front. Their D-line has been a difference maker. So has ours.

“So you kinda look at strength vs. strength. You look at QB and D-line, who wins that battle up front, which offensive line can keep their quarterback upright and control the game, that team will win.

“We’re looking forward to it.”