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Photo by AMBER BRACKEN / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Redblacks have put themselves in this position because — despite some bright spots early in Saturday’s game in Edmonton — for the second straight week they didn’t deliver nearly enough.

“There’s stuff to fix,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said. “We have a three-game season left. If we win two, we get first place. It’s not an awful situation. Losing is hard to get over, but we’re going to have to get over it. The math: You win two of the last three and you get first. It’s devastating when (the Eskimos) have long drives. It’s the offence and defence not making each other look good. The last two games, we’ve been beat on the time of possession. We have to fix that.”

According to Harris, “Big picture, where we’re at is a good place, but, taking a snapshot from the last two weeks, it’s disappointing in terms of the production and the result. We have to keep chopping wood, carrying water.”

Chop wood, carry water, eh? They’re words written on a small scrap of paper and taped above Harris’s locker at TD Place stadium. They’re from a Joshua Medcalf book. Basically the premise is: “Surrender the outcome. Just play present. Press forward, no matter what happens.”

Photo by AMBER BRACKEN / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Redblacks were good enough in the first half Saturday, with Harris passing for 227 yards, but he had just 64 the rest of the way. The Redblacks were horrible on defence and offence in the third quarter especially.

“You have to play 60 minutes of football. You can’t get caught up in what went on in the first half,” said defensive back Devin Butler, who had a fumble recovery. “The second half, it’s a whole new half. You have to lock back in and be ready to play football. You never come into a game not expecting to win. When you don’t win, there’s always a bitter feeling.”