You couldn’t draw up a better start in the win/lose column.

A perfect 3-0 off the hop.

And a big reason for that unblemished stat has been the play of the staunch Stampeders defence, which has been stellar so far.

“We want to pride ourselves on holding teams to just a few yards and few points,” said linebacker Alex Singleton. “To set a tempo headed into the bye week was huge. There’s still a lot to work on but we’re getting better week-in and week-out.

“There are still 15 weeks to go so we can’t look too far ahead of ourselves, just take it game by game.”

Through the first three outings of the 2018 campaign, the defence has caused fits for the opposition, no matter what’s been thrown at them.

The Stamps currently sit first in not just the West Division, but also in three defensive categories with fewest points allowed (35), most sacks (9) and forced fumbles (4).

While it’s still early, those numbers speak volumes and show the defence hasn’t missed a step from a year ago when they also sat atop multiple defensive categories.

“I wish it wasn’t a bye week,” Singleton said. “We are clicking early on in the season which is rewarding to see and you want to run with the hot hand, with the roll that we’ve been on to start. We know we’ll come back and not miss a step. Guys are putting the work in and we’ll be looking to continue what we started.

“Right now we’re going out there doing the right things, making the right reads and coming up to make big stops where it matters most.”

Perhaps the biggest plays the defence has made so far this season came against the Ottawa Redblacks last week when they stopped the Ottawa offence not once, but twice on the goal-line.

“Stop them,” Singleton said. “That’s what was going on in our mind when we were backed up like that. It was a defensive fight and we couldn’t let them score a touchdown. It didn’t matter what happened earlier on or how they got there to the goal-line. We just needed to stop them.”

It was a major turning point in the game that led to the 24-14 victory and now, the two clubs will do it all again when the Stamps return from the bye week next Thursday in Ottawa.

“We know that they are going to come back at us hard and with a vengeance,” Singleton said. “They always play really well at home so we’re going to have to go out there and play our brand of football.

“Hopefully we’ll be clicking like we were in the first three weeks and show what we are all about.”