There’s too much at stake moving forward for Rob Cote to conveniently sweep the past three weeks under the rug.

That easy dismissal  would, in his mind, be the most dangerous reaction imaginable.

“Is there cause for alarm?’’ repeated the most senior of the Stampeders’ leadership group.

“Right now, in a word: Yes.

“We’ve gotta get this going in the right direction. If anybody thinks: ‘We’re good. We’ve got this,’ just because of who we are, just because of our record, they’re out of their minds.

“Granted, we haven’t had any external motivation these last three games. But this is a professional football locker-room. In here, you shouldn’t need that. You shouldn’t rely on that.

“This is what we do.

“This is what we’re paid to do.

“And the last three weeks, we have not come out and done it well.”

The Stampeders, having first place already long since locked down, ended their regular-season commitment with a third straight loss, a 23-5 decision to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Everything about the night was miserable. The weather. The scoreline. The quality of performance. Seven turnovers. Seven sacks.

A number of regulars were, as expected, out of the lineup.

Now comes a 14-day game-break for reflection and reinvigoration with the aim of being at or nearing peak efficiency for the Western Final, opponent TBD, at McMahon Stadium.

“We’ve got a lot to prove to ourselves,’’ said coach Dave Dickenson. “There is an opportunity, we’ve got it at home, we’re going to face a good team and we’ve got some time to get better.

“But right now we’re not the team we need to be.

“Our effort is not in question. But it doesn’t matter if you can execute anything. Doesn’t matter when you don’t play with your eyes. Doesn’t matter when you take penalties, cough the ball up over and over, have no ball security.

“Our guys need to rally. This is a team that needs to look in the mirror, a staff that needs to look in the mirror. And figure out where we’re going from there.”

The foundation is in place. The personnel is here. Teams don’t compile a cumulative 28-6-2 over two regular-seasons without those characteristics.

“We didn’t finish with the best record in the league by chance,’’ reminded wideout Anthony Parker. “You don’t win as many games as we did with crappy players on the field. All I know is that we have a formula for success. It’s worked, for a very long time. And it’ll work again. But we have to go out there and pick up the slack.”

With Bo Levi Mitchell given the evening off, U of C grad Andrew Buckley made his pro starting debut and No. 3 Ricky Stanzi slid in to take the controls in the fourth quarter.

Buckley’s big night began disastrously, unfortunately, and never picked up speed.

On his first pass attempt, Bomber DB Brandon Alexander reads the route of DaVaris Daniels, steps larcenously in, makes the pick and on the slick track, with the Stamp offence stuck in neutral, sails 55 yards for a touchdown.

The half ended with as big a thud, linebacker Ian Wild coming free off the right edge on a Calgary third-and-six, collapsing Buckley with a thunderous blindside hit, defensive end Tristan Okapaulogo scooping up the freebie and chugging 52 yards for a major.

In between, there was another fumble, a turnover on downs, only 78 yards of total offence and a crater to scramble themselves out of.

Bombers in cruise control, 23-0 at half.

“Things didn’t go our way early,’’ acknowledged Buckley. “Didn’t respond very well. There were plays to be made out there, we just didn’t make (them).

“They were getting a good push up front. Our guys were edging the same thing. We held them off as best we could. I don’t put any of this on the O-line.

“It just comes down to us pulling together as a team and making more plays than we did.’’

Of the three QBs to play, Buckley was the only one to crack the 100-yard marker, finishing at 120.

The Stamps attack, though, wound up at only 158 net yards.

“Offensively,’’ said Parker, “we’re falling short. It’s everywhere. It’s routes. It’s catching the football. It’s throwing the football. It’s … bad.

“And it’s never been like this since I’ve been here.

“It’s not going to be show up on the 19th and go ‘Hey, guys, here we are!’ It’s going to be day to day in practice, putting in the work.”

The next two weeks, even minus the not-to-be-duplicated feel of game conditions, will be instrumental in regaining misplaced equilibrium.

“We’ve got a week of to get ourselves together,’’ said Cote, “and if we don’t come back ready to go, it’s not going to be pretty.

“But if we come back and focus on what’s important, be who are and who we have been, then we can put this behind us.

“We’ve got all the parts in this room. There’s no doubt about that. Now it’s about playing with our hearts.

“We do that, we’ll be fine.”