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Desjardins likes where the Redblacks are at with a month to go in the regular season.

“We may not be exactly healthy healthy, but we’re going to get some guys back in the next couple of weeks and that will help us a lot,” he said.

THE PRUNEAU UPDATE: It’s not looking like defensive back Antoine Pruneau will play Saturday in Edmonton. Said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell: “I’m not trying to be evasive, but I’m less optimistic. We’re going to give him every opportunity. We’ve got to decide by (Thursday), we’re flying out. He’s got to be out here practising (Thursday) in order to do it.” … Once again, at Wednesday’s practice, Anthony Cioffi was at safety replacing Pruneau, while Devin Butler was at SAM linebacker in Cioffi’s spot. Asked about Butler, Campbell said: “He’s an athletic guy who understands things really well. He’s picked things up. I’m impressed with the guy.”

DESPERATE TIMES: Asked about the Eskimos, who with a 7-8 record are battling for their playoff lives (they’re in last place in the West), Campbell said: “I think everybody’s desperate when you really think about it. Everybody’s jockeying for position. From here on out, it’s going to be that way for everybody, including us. Every game is going to matter, they’re big.”

CATCHING ON: The last time the Eskimos and Redblacks played two weeks ago — a 28-15 Ottawa win — offensive lineman Mark Korte had the first touchdown catch of his CFL career, or at least he thought he did. An illegal interference penalty to receiver Brad Sinopoli took it away. In recent games, Korte, who wears jersey No. 75, has been switching to No. 65 on the sidelines to make him receiver-eligible. Asked if he’d ever lined up at receiver before this year, Korte said: “I haven’t. It came about over the course of this season. They made me test it out during the week and made sure I would actually catch it.” Asked about the play, he said: “I was excited. We had planned it through the week. Unfortunately it didn’t work out. It was totally my fault, I put Brad in a tough situation with the way I ran the route. I was supposed to be behind the line of scrimmage. It was a bummer, but it was still a fun experience.”