It worked like a charm in 2001, and 15 years later it's deja Blue all over again.

Watching the current run by the Bombers, I can't help but think back to the days of Dave Ritchie, Brendan Taman and Lyle Bauer and one of the most memorable seasons in Blue and Gold history.

Ritchie went into that season in the third and final year of his contract, having won a combined 13 games through two losing seasons.

We all know what that means: win or else.

After a mediocre 2-2 start, all Ritchie's Bombers did was rattle off a club-record 12 straight victories to barge into first place in the CFL East and earn the popular Gramps, as they called him in the front office, a new deal.

Playing the role of Ritchie this year is Mike O'Shea, also feeling the heat going into the last season of his deal after a combined 12 wins his first two seasons.

We wondered if job insecurity would help O'Shea find his mojo, and sure enough, his Bombers shook off a 1-4 start, started winning in Edmonton in late July and haven't stopped – seven in a row, and counting.

All that early-season noise about O'Shea's contract: gone.

We wouldn't be surprised if CEO Wade Miller or GM Kyle Walters, playing the roles of Bauer and Taman, respectively, plopped a new contract in front of O'Shea before season's end.

Ritchie got his in early October, 10 games into the streak.

O'Shea on Tuesday gave no indication those talks have even begun, yet.

“Early in the season I wasn't worried about it and I'm not worried about it now,” O'Shea said. “You guys always ask me about the next things, and I have a hard time thinking about that.”

Some of his players don't.

Like Ritchie before him, O'Shea is a popular man in that locker-room. Players are thrilled the conversation swirling around him has done an about-face.

“It's incredible, because all of these guys want to play for Coach O'Shea,” quarterback Matt Nichols said. “He's a guy that'll go to bat for any of his players at any time. Any one of these players would do anything for him, and vice-versa.”

O'Shea is as player-friendly a coach as I've ever seen. Days off are common, long practices rare, public hangings non-existent.

Instead of screaming at them after a bone-headed mistake, he'll put his arms on their shoulders and encourage them.

And while it might take him a while to admit he was wrong about somebody – Willy the prime example – he'll make the transition to the next guy without ruffling feathers or burning bridges.

Nichols said he'd love to see O'Shea get a new deal that keeps him in Blue and Gold for years to come.

“I love playing for him,” the 29-year-old quarterback said. “For me to have that stability would be great. I've bounced around with a lot of co-ordinators and head coaches in my career. We have a good one here.”

While we're comparing the current campaign to 2001, how about Nichols?

In his first season as a CFL starter, Nichols' strong play made well-paid veteran Drew Willy expendable.

Just as Khari Jones, in his first full season as a starter, had made veteran Kerwin Bell expendable.

There are even similarities in the front office.

Walters, like Taman before him, is a likeable, unassuming straight-shooter who was born and trained in Canada.

Miller and Bauer, non-imports, too. Both played their entire decade-long career with one team -- the Bombers.

One big difference: that Winnipeg team 15 years ago was the best in the league during the regular season, at 14-4. It reached the Grey Cup, where it lost to 8-10 Calgary, a loss that eats away at those involved to this day and one that allowed the current championship drought to reach a ridiculous 25 years.

Through a dozen games this year, the Bombers are 8-4, while the Stamps are the cream of the CFL crop, at 10-1-1.

They happen to be next up for the Bombers, too.

No matter what happens this weekend, you get the feeling it'll be the Stampeders who'll be in Winnipeg's way when it's all said and done.

Just like 15 years ago.