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November 17, 2018

‘We’re coming in here ready to fight’

This last particular stretch of mid-to-late October road detoured them into unfamiliar terrain.

It was littered with potholes, bumps and construction zones.

Not the usual pedal-to-the-metal expanse of top-down, open Autobahn highway.

Which doesn’t mean that come journey’s end this particular road won’t, for the first time in three trips, be paved with yellow bricks.

“You think about the past couple years,” reasoned defensive tackle Ja’Gared Davis, on the eve of conflict, “and we pretty much looked like Goliath, so to speak. Big. Strong. Scary.

“And then, at the end both times, David showed up with his slingshot.

“Right now people think we’re human, even fragile, and maybe that’s a good thing. But it’s a football season, there’s ebbs and flow.

“We know there’s always been a bullseye on our backs; that teams want to knock us off because then they can say: ‘We just beat the Calgary Stampeders. That means we’re damn good.’

“We’re used to winning games, putting up big numbers, gettin’ all these accolades. Sure we still finished first but the way things finished this year … it’s been a more humbling type of season.

“That’s fine. We’ve always known we had to come out and work extra hard for what we get because we know that every week we’re going to get everybody else’s best.

“We’re expecting no less (Sunday).”

Ja’Gared Davis

The perception of a somehow more fallible version of the Stampeders has been bandied about in the lead-in to Sunday’s 2018 West Division Final (2:30 p.m., for tickets click here).

The invading Winnipeg Blue Bombers, be certain, won’t be lulled into any sort of false sense of security.

Don’t poke the bear.

Underestimate at your peril.

“Guess what?” said Stampeder boss Dave Dickenson of the inevitable crests and valleys to an 18-to-21-game season. “It’s tough.

“We want to win a ring. We want to win a Cup. Until that happens I don’t think any of us will feel complete.

“You don’t see Dan Marino getting the same accolades as even an Eli Manning-type of guy. I’d definitely take Dan Marino over Eli Manning but he doesn’t have a ring.

“All of us want that ring. All of us want that validation.

“That’s how you’re judged. And that’s fair.

“Let’s see if we can get ’er done.”

The Bombers arrive on a high after outlasting the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium last weekend. Quarterback Matt Nichols is rolling through the air, Andrew Harris along the ground and the Big Blue defence fully prepared to

Cool, say the Stamps.

“This,” reminded Davis, “is what we live for. For these type of games, these type of moments.

“I mean, we’ve been preparing for this all season. (Sunday) is just another step in where we’re trying to go. It’s a great opponent coming in here tomorrow.

“We’re the Calgary Stampeders. You can never count us out no matter what the circumstances, what the game is.

“We’re coming in here ready to fight.”

The Stamps’ run to the semifinal stage over the past decade has been been automatic. In the past seven years, and over eight of the most recent 10, they’ve pushed through to at least the division final, splitting the spoils 4-4.

The hiccups of late season may mean the bullseye on their backs that Davis spoke of isn’t as big or bright, but it’s still there.

Bo Levi Mitchell.

“C’mon, man,’’ QB Bo Levi Mitchell chided the doubters during his Saturday media availability inside the amateur facility at McMahon Stadium. “Nobody wants to see the exact same thing over and over and over. I don’t want to see Golden State go to another championship. I want to see somebody else go. I want to see Philly go.

“But that’s not going to change Golden State’s mindset, just cause I don’t want them to go.

“I expect to be in the Grey Cup every single year.

“I believe in my talent, my professionalism, my hard work and the guys I have around me. And I know they have that same mindset, that we deserve to go there, because of the work we put in, the time we put in.

“I hope that every single team in the CFL feels that way. You want to feel like an underdog; you don’t want to feel like everybody wants you to win, they expect you to win.

“We’ve been the villain in the past. We understand that.

“It’s not like we can’t read (what’s in) the media. It’s not like we don’t hear these things. We hear the tone of voice used when speaking about us in games – ‘Finally Calgary lost a couple games at the end of the season. Finally they’re not the team everybody thinks they are …’”

Slight pause. Unblinking gaze. Tight, defiant smile.

“We’ll show you.”