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Photo by Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS

“Last year at this time, we were 1-4-1,” said Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris. “Then we lost the next two. We’ve been in Toronto’s shoes. We ended up crawling back out of it, winning seven of our last 10 and making the playoffs.

“If we could stretch out a win, win, win before we get into our bye week (the Redblacks are off Week 11 in late August), then we can come up for air and see where we’re at. We’re going to go into Toronto against a team with its back against the wall, a team that will come out scratching, clawing and fighting. We have to be sharp.”

Not getting caught up in whatever each week’s result is – win or lose – is a focus for the Redblacks.

“We need to enjoy this one,” said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell. “But we’re going to have to reload and refocus. This is a quick week, it’s another big game against an Eastern team.”

Beating Hamilton didn’t come easy – in many ways, though, the Ticats beat themselves with missed interception opportunities, two missed field goals and an inability to not only move the ball consistently, but cash in with touchdowns. Credit to the Redblacks defence, too, which made the big plays when necessary.

“It’s huge to win on the road against an Eastern Division team – that’s two of them – one in Montreal and one (in Hamilton),” said Campbell. “All of it is going to be huge, all the teams in this league are pretty close talent-wise, every win you can cash in is big.

Photo by Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS

“The thing I like about our group is no one seems to panic, we just keep working and moving on to the next play. On the bench, no one hangs his head or pouts or yells, they just move on to the next thing. It comes down to making more plays than the other team in the fourth quarter and our guys did it.”