The last time the Bombers had the league's best turnover ratio was in 2003, which was a good season that ended early thanks to injuries to key players.

The time before that was in 2001, when they went 14-4 and got to a Grey Cup game they should have won.

And the time before that was in 1990, which just so happens to be the last year they won the Grey Cup.

The Bombers now lead the CFL in turnover ratio by a country mile thanks to 12 takeaways in the last two games against backup quarterbacks. They already have more interceptions through eight games than they had in each of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The turnover is the most influential statistic on a game's outcome. Teams that commit fewer turnovers are 26-5 this season and were 54-15 last year. The Bombers are 4-1 this year when committing fewer turnovers than their opponents, and they are 0-3 when they have more.

Since 2010 the Bombers are 31-9 when winning the turnover battle and 8-68 when they have more or the same number.

Defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall this season gave each Bombers defensive player a dog tag that reads “Talk, hit, swarm and score.” Lately they have been doing exactly that to get their record to .500 at 4-4.

“This is just who we are,” Hall said Wednesday after Winnipeg's final practice before Friday night's game in Montreal against the 3-5 Alouettes. “This is what binds us all together. Talk, hit, swarm and score. That's kind of our motto. That's how we want to play defence. We want to win together and lose together.

“It's just like going to war. They had their dog tags, and that's what links the military together with one another. That's kind of what we do.”

The Bombers have produced six takeaways in a game a whopping three times this season. Their 27 thefts put them on pace to record 61 this season, which would be the most since they stole the pigskin a remarkable 73 times in 1994.

“It's a combination of us getting pressure up front and our DBs being in the right position,” said linebacker Ian Wild, who has played a role in three takeaways thanks to an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.

“You don't give yourself a chance unless you're in the right position. That's what's been happening for the past three or four weeks. We're always doing our job in the right spots, and that's why we're taking some advantage of some bad throws.”

The Bombers are not only taking the ball away, but they're making the other teams pay for it, too. They have turned their 27 takeaways into 71 points, which is two fewer than they produced all of last year on 37 turnovers. The defence has scored three touchdowns on its own.

“What we want to do is create opportunities for our offence to get on the field,” Hall said. “At the same time, when we get the ball we want to create opportunities for us to be offensive minded and to score.”