It’s that time of season again.

With the 2009 Canadian Football League season winding down and the race in the West Division tightening up, questions are being asked about tie-breaking procedures. It’s a critical matter because a touchdown here and a field goal there could make the difference between a first-round bye and a challenging road game to start the playoffs.

One thing we know is that Saturday’s wild draw between the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders has greatly reduced the possibility of a three-way tie between Western clubs. Unless the BC Lions and/or Edmonton Eskimos play to a draw in the final three weeks of the season that is, in which case anything goes again.

Meanwhile, the Stamps-Riders tie creates the possibility of a saw-off in the season series between Calgary and Saskatchewan. As things stand now, the Riders would clinch the series with a win (or a tie) in the regular-season finale in Regina on Nov. 7. The Stamps, meanwhile, need to win by at least two points to overcome the one-point Saskatchewan win over Calgary on Aug. 1.

But what if the Stamps win by exactly one point, which would leave the head-to-head records (the first tie-breaker) and points for and against (the second tie-breaker) exactly the same?

Then it comes down to the next tie-breaker — inter-division record, an area in which Calgary holds the edge. The Stampeders currently have a 4-2-1 record against the West while the Roughriders are 3-4-1 within the division. Since the everything’s-tied scenario can only happen if Calgary wins the season finale, the worst the Stamps could finish division record-wise is 5-4-1 while the best the Riders could do in this situation is 4-5-1.

But before the mathematicians get to work, the players have to do their thing between the lines and that means some very exciting football — including Friday’s tilt between the Stamps and Eskimos at McMahon Stadium — in the final three weeks.