The Mad Rose Pub in Marda Loop was the spot. The whole second floor had been reserved.

All big-screen TVs turned to TSN CFL football, Saturday doubleheader, Hamilton-Ottawa then Sask-B.C.

“The idea,’’ reports Bo Levi Mitchell, with a nod of acknowledgement to Shane Bergman, “came from Berg.

“He’s like: ‘Man, we need to do something again as a group. Let’s get together like we did a couple years ago.’

“So I called Alex, talked to Micah, then got up in front of the team and told them: ‘Hey, we’re getting together for dinner and drinks.’ Clay set it up for us.”

No RSVPs.

No reminders.

No need.

Boys day out. A few brew, some appies, a bit of BSing and bonding away from the workplace: From the field, the locker room, the road-trip hotels.

The night before the soiree, of course, the Calgary Stampeders had endured a third consecutive loss, this one in Winnipeg, once again leaving their aspirations of a first place in the West and semi-final bye hanging in the wind.

“It’s tough to think about bad things all the time,’’ explained Bergman, the fifth-year staple of the offensive line. “That can really wear on anyone.

“I felt we had to talk about good things. Get together, have a couple drinks and talk about stuff outside of football. Fool around, get some of the fun back.

“We need to (rekindle) that camaraderie. The worst thing that can happen when things go bad is to have people turn against each other. That’s the last thing we need on this football team.

“So we got together, made sure none of that was happening. And it all turned out good.”

On the heels of those three consecutive losses (as if hereabouts need reminding) the Stamps travel into B.C. to close out their 2018 regular-season calendar.

The math, it’s ramifications, could not be more simple.

Win and they don’t line up until Nov. 18.

Lose, and they’re obliged to extra playoff date, Nov. 11.

“I feel all the stuff we’ve done this week in practice,’’ said DB Jamar Wall, “all that look-in-the-mirror stuff, has really hit home.

“We know how important this game is. If you’ve watched us this week, you know we’ve been flying around, having fun again. I mean, you can see it, can feel it.

“We win this game, we are where we need to be. Maybe it’s not always the prettiest route to get there but that’s football.

“In our minds, this, Saturday in B.C., is our first playoff game. This is where it starts. Who cares whatever B.C.’s doing? We know they’re the crossover team, know who, where and when they’re playing, so we don’t know if they’re going to dress everybody for this game. That doesn’t matter to us. We have to go out for ourselves, for the guy next to us and the guy next to him and on the down the line.

And the importance of last Saturday’s get-together?

“You’ve got guys here from the States, away from their families,’’ replied Wall. “You’ve got guys from here, who have their families here. What we have in common is that all day, every day, it’s football, football, football. You’re either playing football, practicing football or thinking about football.

“Sometimes you just have to get away from it. Take a break. Things haven’t gone our way, frustration’s mounting. That’s when bad things can happen.

“So let’s just get out, hang out, talk it out, like our own family. ‘Cause that’s what we are.

“It was good, something we needed to do.”

So on to Vancouver the Stampeders march with a football game to win.

“It’s been awhile since the last week of a (regular) season has meant something to us like this,’’ acknowledged Mitchell. “There’s a Grey Cup-like, playoff-like feeling to this game.

“Mean, if that doesn’t get you excited to play, I don’t know what could.

“I think it was important for us to get together the way we did because when you lose, sometimes fingers start pointing, you see splits … offence, defence. Cliques can develop.

“Even though that wasn’t happening here, I wanted to get everyone in the same place, just to kick back, have some laughs, enjoy each other’s company for awhile, away from the pressure of the game.

“The kicker’s talking to the quarterback. The O-lineman’s talking to the DB. The linebacker’s talking to the returner.

“Because we are all – offence, defence, special teams – in this together. Because we cannot do this without one another.

“Without each and every one of us.”