Playoff lives on the line for Eskimos, Lions

It's as though they held the famous OK Corral gunfight in two locations, with the results of one coming down the telegraph line before the other started.

The Clantons and McLaurys are already done, Doc? Great, we don't have to unholster the six shooters at all. Pass me that whiskey.

On Saturday, the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Eskimos decide the final playoff spot in the CFL West, about 2,000 kilometres and two time zones apart.

First up at 2 p.m. ET, the Lions (7-10) are in Ontario to play the home and cooled Hamilton Tigers-Cats (9-8) in a game B.C. must win or they're done.

If the Lions do come out on top, all eyes go to Regina at 7 p.m. ET where the stumbling Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-8) host the 7-10 Eskies. An Edmonton win or tie and they would be staying around to play the Riders in the West semifinal while B.C. is out.

Nobody in Vancouver this week was worrying a lick about that second game.

"The way I say it is, just worry and control what you can control," said Lions' coach Wally Buono, in an early morning phone interview from his office. "Whether Edmonton wins or loses is not relevant.

"We must win. Last week [a huge victory over the Riders] we were into our quarter-finals of the playoffs [in effect] and now it's one must-win after another."

If the Lions are nervous they certainly aren't showing it. The day before last weekend's game, the players were dancing around the dressing room with the music on volume 10.

That worked well, so don't expect much different. And Buono doesn't seem fazed either.

"It's out of my hands," he said, sitting on the precipice of missing the playoffs for just the second time in 21 seasons. "Now, it's up to the players. All we can do is get them well prepared and hopefully get them in good positions, and they have to go out and play."

After a horrid 1-7 start, the Lions have gone 6-3 to get back into the race. Buono isn't impressed because he sees all three of those losses as games his club should have had.

Especially the one against Edmonton on Oct. 16 that turned in overtime on a pass interference call leading to an Eskimos' win. That clinched the season series for the green and gold, giving them the tiebreaker.

If both finish 8-10, or 7-11 for that matter, Edmonton is in.

Eyes on the prize

One province (and a whole way of life) over, Richie Hall was sounding this week like he's the coach that has to win, not Buono.

"The positive is we're playing well and we're on a roll," Hall told the Edmonton Sun. "We always want to go into the playoffs positive, and this is another game that we get an opportunity to put ourselves into a playoff situation.

"We said weeks ago that each game is a playoff game for us and this game is no different than it was last week," he said. "We have to win to keep going."

Perhaps not, coach. But you can see his point. No sense loosening up on the reins when the team is thundering along at a 6-1 pace following an historic and deeply humbling 1-9 start.

And here's where the final bump in the prairie appears. Both the Lions and Eskimos are playing against teams that have, at first glance, nothing much to gain out of their weekend contests other than a few unwanted injuries.

Hamilton already knows it will host the East semi against Toronto a week hence, and therefore may not even send some of the key starters out for the contest with the Lions. That's not to say the replacements won't be playing hard to make a point to management, but they are, after all, backups.

Buono understands this.

"This game has to mean more to us than to Hamilton," he said. "If nothing else, we should have the psychological edge because there is more value in the game to us."

Right.

But Saskatchewan also knows it will host the West semi against either the Lions or Eskimos, and may be looking to rest starters as well.

That question is a little tougher, because the Riders have lost four in a row and looked bad doing it. Especially last week in Vancouver. So they might want to use the time to fine tune things with the regulars.

Hall's a bit suspicious he's going to see a lot more of the Saskatchewan starters than one might normally believe.

"I think they'll be a very hungry bunch," the coach said. "You don't want to go into the playoffs in the fashion they're going.

"They have a lot of pride, they've lost their last two at home so it's important that you get back on [track] to get that momentum going."

Riders' coach Ken Miller was being evasive this week about who might play in what circumstance (Lions loss or Lions win). It sounded like he wasn't going to let the Eskimos see anything new or special that might give something away for a possible playoff meeting, for example.

And he wasn't saying anything specific about who would start.

Because it's Canada, we can't leave without a weather report. For both Hamilton and Regina, 5 C at kickoff, with some clouds.

No advantage there.

By game time, Edmonton might not need any advantage at all.