Mixon Madland is the only true fifth-year Kamloops Bronco, a stalwart who has played with the B.C. Football Conference club since his rookie season.

The 22-year-old South Kamloops secondary graduate is not asking for much in his swan-song season — he just wants a win.

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“It sounds lame to say it, but a win would almost be the playoffs for me,” said Madland, whose Broncos are 0-4 and in the league basement.

“People look at it and think, ‘Oh man, these guys are terrible. They got pumped,’ But every game this core gets better. It sucks for me that I’m on my way out this year.”

Kamloops has six games remaining, three in a row at home before three consecutive road tilts.

The Westshore Rebels of Langford will be in town on Saturday, bringing their 3-1 record to Hillside Stadium for a 6 p.m. start.

“They’ve had some close games,” Broncos’ head coach Rob Ellis said. “They beat the [Valley] Huskers by one. There is lot of parity in the league. Winning is a mindset. We just have to turn the corner there.”

The Broncos are taking positives from their most recent game, a 47-35 loss to Valley at Hillside on Aug. 24.

“Go through the stats,” Madland said. “There is one quarter of every game that we play terribly. The other team runs up the score on us.

“All the other three quarters we’re battling, keeping pace, but we can never dig ourselves out of our own hole. Most games, it’s the third quarter.”

Quarterback Nick Nica and the Broncos’ offence had breakout games against the Chilliwack-based Huskers, who are second-last in league standings at 1-3.

Ellis was asked if the bye week might slow any momentum gained. He said the break came at a good time, as his team was dealing with a rash of injuries.

He is also OK with the BCFC scheduling.

“Revenue-wise, it’s great,” Ellis said. “We’ve got three games early in September. There’s no smoke. So, hopefully, good attendance is a good thing for the board. And we don’t mind travelling.“

Madland is not bullish on the final stretch.

“I wish it was mixed up a little bit,” Madland said. “The three games away for the last three games are going to suck.”

The Broncos will play host to the Okanagan Sun (2-2) of Kelowna on Sept. 14 and the Vancouver Island Raiders (2-2) of Nanaimo on Sept. 21.

Valley and Kamloops will clash in Chilliwack on Sept. 28.

“That’s a game we’re definitely looking forward to,” Madland said.

Westshore will host Kamloops on Oct. 5. The Broncos will finish the season against the Rams (4-0) in Langley.

“The mindset has to be take the lessons that you can learn from these games,” Madland said.

“It sucks in the moment and it’s going to suck for all of the guys who weren’t expecting to come from Saskatchewan and lose, but we are getting to the point where we’re starting to come together as a family and realize we’re going to learn a lot from this season.”