A man’s home, it’s often said, is his castle.

If that is in fact reality and not mere cliché, in order to breach McMahon Stadium there must be an invisible, alligator-infested moat in need of crossing, eagle-eyed sentries at every turret, guard dogs growling behind doors jams, razor-wire ringing the upper reaches and an alarm system worthy of Fort Knox.

And only then do you reach the second level of safeguards.

“Man, our job is to protect it,’’ says safety Josh Bell. “Keep it safe. Nobody breaks into our house and steals our stuff.

“Those fairy tales, the urban legends, those tall tales? We believe ’em.

“Those Big Bad Wolfs out there at our door?

“Man, they can huff and they can puff but they ain’t blowing our house down.”

A pristine 7-0 on the season, the Calgary Stampeders go in search of an eighth consecutive McMahon Stadium win in 2016 Saturday versus the Montreal Alouettes. Then a ninth six days later against the Argos and finally, most critically, against TBD on Nov. 20.

Through this very special season, the Stamps have won laughers (48-23 over Ottawa, 45-24 over the Eskimos on Labour Day) at home, along with faint-inducers (44-41 against BC in OT).

But they’ve always, so far, found a way.

Run the table, go 10-0 at McMahon for the first time — beginning-to-end — in franchise history, and they’re guaranteed return passage to Toronto and the 104th Grey Cup Game.

“We take a lot of pride in the way we play at home,’’ says fullback Rob Cote, “and our crowd has been fantastic this year.

“We’ve pushed them to the limit a couple times, started preeeetttty slow and made the diehards stay right to the end to give them some excitement.

“But, yes, we’ve made it a point of emphasis: If you take care of your business at home, it sets you up to do big things.

“It’s a marketing slogan, I know, but we believe in it, too: This Is Our House.”

Photo by Johany Jutras

You need drift back a dozen years to a wackier time — 2004 — to spot a losing record (3-6) for the Stamps at McMahon. Since then, dominance: Three 8-1 seasons (last year being the latest example) and four more of 7-2.

Yet historically-speaking, only the 1993 and ’94 models, with Wally Buono in command of the sidelines and mercurial Doug Flutie manning the controls, went 9-0 at home over the course of a regular season (Les Lear’s unbeaten ’48 crew was a spotless 7-0, including playoffs).

Both of those Buono-Flutie powerhouses, significantly, awkwardly clipped the final hurdle, upset in front of their fans in the West final, denying them a trip to the big game.

This edition vows not to suffer the same fate.

Josh Bell used to roll up to McMahon’s amateur-facility doors in the BC Lions’ charter bus. He was one of the interlopers then, those guys “trying to steal the stuff” who were able to actually see the invisible moat, the eagle-eyed sentries and growling guard dogs.

“The only way you could walk out of this place with a win,’’ he recalls, “was to be perfect.

“Not average. Not good. Not very good.

“You couldn’t come in and make one or two or three mistakes.

“You had to be perfect.

“And you had to match the Calgary Stampeders’ effort and intensity. You had to get down, make plays, smack ’em in the mouth, bust their head and if you had them down you had to keep them down, not give them a glimmer of hope.

“Because if you did …

“Yes, sir, it’s nice to be on this side now.”

Photo by Johany Jutras

Cote, naturally, is used to savouring victories at his second home address, 1817 Crowchild Trail NW. Since he joined up in 2007, the Stamps have gone a collective 72-22-3.

Given their unassailable position atop the league and the West, he views the ancillary goals as the mechanical rabbit pushing the greyhound on long after the race has been determined.

“Having clinched, we’ve gotten ourselves into a spot where we need to find ways to motivate ourselves,’’ says Cote.  “And things like that – targets, records – are one way to do keep us sharp.

“We need those types of goals because you have to focused and climbing the ladder every week, even having already secured that home playoff game. Because there are going to be teams be scratching and clawing, trying to knock you off and you’d better be ready.

“There’s a time and a place when and where you’ve got to be playing your best football so if these types of things help us stay sharp, stay hungry, then great.”

Saturday, the Stampeders continue to protect the sanctity of Their House.

Seven times that Big Bad Wolf had been at the door, and seven times he’s been rebuffed.

“We’re egotistical,’’ says Bell, in his usual expansive mood. “We’re proud men. We want it all. Our thinking is: Why not?

“We want Dickie (Dave Dickenson) to get that first-year coaching record. When I’m old and long retired, I want to be able to say: ‘Know what? I played for that guy, that year.’

“We want 16-1-1.

“We want 10-0 at home.

“We want to be ready to explode on somebody after two weeks of vacation because most of all, we want that Grey Cup back.

“As they say in 300 – or is it Achilles in Troy? – achieve greatness and you will be remembered.”

Photo by Johany Jutras