There are phenomena that do happen less frequently.
A Halley’s Comet sighting, for instance.
Or a total eclipse.
“You always want to bounce back after a loss,’’ emphasized wideout DaVaris Daniels, drying out in the players lounge following a Noah’s Ark-soggy walkthrough at McMahon Stadium on a bleak Friday morning. “Always.
“Losing twice? In a row?” A soft, disgusted shake of the head. “Man, you never want to go down that road.
“We’ve got a lot of good leaders and captains in this room who won’t allow that to happen, who hold everyone accountable. It’s something we pride ourselves on.
“We don’t lose around here often. It’s not something we’re used to. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.
“We don’t like it when it happens. And when it does, you never see us get too down because we’re already planning on doing something about it.”
The Stampeders have been famously successful over the years at avoiding the Terrible Twos.
The unthinkable anomaly of three losses on the trot actually occurred once in 2017, Weeks 16 through 18 with first place and a bye tucked away in their hip pocket.
But before that, the White Horse had gone a staggering 102 starts without suffering back-to-back disappointments.
Which segues nicely into Saturday’s matinee fixture versus the invading Winnipeg Blue Bombers out on Crowchild Trail.
On the heels of the 40-27 win-streak-busting loss at New Mosaic Stadium a week ago, the 7-1 Stamps look to improve their position at the summit of the West Division.
“It’s been a short week,’’ said head knock Dave Dickenson. “I think the energy’s still there. We know we’ve got a tough challenge.
“Both teams coming off losses, looking forward to playing the next game.
“They’ve got great talent. They’ve been loading up through the years in the draft and their Canadian talent’s as good as anybody’s. Playmakers on both sides of the ball. Special teams, they run more things than anybody, more fakes than anybody, gotta be ready for that.
“And they play with an edge.”
Middle linebacker Alex Singleton says he and his chums pushed immediately beyond the anger or mourning phase of Saturday evening’s result in Regina.
No sense wasting precious energy on what’s already done.
“Focus-more,’’ reckons the reigning CFL Defensive Player of the Year. “You try and narrow your focus, I guess. Prepare even harder because you don’t want to be having this same conversation next week.
“You can’t just sit back and think about the loss. That’s not going to do anything for you.
“As much as there’s an East and a West in this league, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing because every point matters towards the playoffs.”
With the Bombers next up, followed by the crucial back-to-back Labor Day Week double-bill against the second-place Edmonton Eskimos, a string of Ws the next while would go a long way in setting themselves up for a fifth first-place divisional finish in the past half dozen seasons.
“For us,’’ said Daniels, “it’s about staying together, 12 strong, and getting something going early.
“We’re not looking past this week. It’s a cliche, I know, but the way to success is to keep things small. One game, one opponent, at a time. Not getting ahead of yourself.
“Hey, they’re not happy, either. They lost last week, too. They’re going to try and knock us down. It’s going to be physical. So we’ve got to be ready. Just take care of our own business.”