The easy way, the convenient out, would’ve been to play the just-one-of-those-days-at-the-office/Get Out of Jail free card.

Honesty, though, the Stamps expect nothing less than a win.

Which made the result that much harder to swallow.

“You could tell pretty early that B.C. was playing like they had more at stake than we did,’’ confessed defensive end Ja’Gared Davis.

“They were the hungrier team tonight.

“We came out with the mindset that we’d pretty much got (first in the West) in the bag, especially with what happened earlier, Winnipeg beating Saskatchewan. Like we had everything wrapped up. At least it looked that way.

“So no excuses.

“We didn’t show up to play. We didn’t come ready to work.

“B.C. did. And it showed.

“From the jump.”

The final heaving gasp for the Stampeders came with a minute remaining, a slip by slotback Eric Rogers trying to scramble back on a third-and-10, life-or-death gamble from their own 17 that skipped harmlessly off the turf at the 35-yard-line, pretty much encapsulated Saturday’s 26-21 loss to the B.C. Lions at McMahon Stadium.

So the White Horse will now need to wait at least another week to officially clinch first place in the West.

But re-igniting the mojo that catapulted them to the  CFL’s summit in the first place will doubtless be the first order of business.

“It was frustrating because those are the type of games we usually pull out,’’ sighed QB Bo Levi Mitchell. “If felt like we were going to do it there, towards the end, that second or third last drive, driving down the field … we just didn’t make enough plays when it counted.”

Everything in Stamp-land on Saturday, it seemed, was that tiny bit … off. A beat behind the melody.

A punishing litany of transgressions, for starters.

Nine penalties for 101 yards, weird ones at inopportune times, including an offensive PI call on an earlier third-down gamble, perched on the Lions’ 26, 3:35 left on the clock and the Stamps seemingly poised to pull another one out of the fire late.

“Honestly, we’re not clicking on many cylinders at all right now,’’ conceded coach Dave Dickenson. “We’ve got a lot of improving that needs to be done. We’ve got a good record but other than that … we’ve got to makes sure to be a lot better than that.

“Looking in the mirror, a lot of selfish penalties. Way too many penalties as a whole. I’m responsible for that so I’ve got to make sure I do a better job.

“We didn’t play well enough. Didn’t see a lot of people stepping up, making plays. And it’s the veterans. Not the new guys. Yeah, we had some excuses, a lot of people not around, but it just wasn’t good enough.

“We lost the game. How are we gonna respond? Let’s see what happens.”

The next week of practice will surely be welcome, particularly integrating the new fleet of receivers necessitated by the M*A*S*H unit plague of injuries at that position.

“It’s going to make a lot of difference, the more me and these guys and I can get together and throw, get timing on some things,’’ agreed Mitchell. “Just trust each other on some things. Obviously it’s not easy right now but we’re professionals and we get paid to play so I’ve got to trust them to make plays and keep moving the ball.

“You’ve lost five of your best players. But it’s concerning because we’re not playing well. We’ve had our chances. The defence is putting us in positions. We’re making plays here and there but we’re not putting full drives together to score touchdowns.”

No one, in Davis’s estimation, emerged unscathed Saturday. The whole rocket, not just one or two parts, failed to get off the launch pad.

“We just couldn’t get anything going, and that’s across the board,’’ he said. “Offence, defence, or special teams. We all took our turn, letting up, giving up a big play here or failing to make a big play there.

“So it’s not one individual or one phase of the game. We all take the blame. Start with me. I know myself, I feel I played one of my worst games since I’ve been here. I let the team down.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to come ready to work. We didn’t. We lost. That’s on us.

“Every team wants to be playing its best football in late October, in November, heading into the playoffs, leading up to the Grey Cup.

“We’re obviously not there yet. But we’ve got time. And we’ll get there.

“Cause when we’re clicking on all cylinders, I like our chances.”