The encouraging part for the Stamps is their remaining games are against the Roughriders, the Bombers and the Lions.

Control what you can control.

The Calgary Stampeders spent part of September staring at a Canadian Football League playoff map that required binoculars, a calculator and help from strangers.

Now the route is simple enough to spell out with three letters …

W-I-N.

“We control our own destiny if we take care of what we need to take care of,” said Stampeders star receiver Jalen Philpot. “Sky’s the limit. And everything that we said early on in the year is attainable.”

Indeed, the Stamps enter Friday’s game in Regina (7:30 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary 770 AM) with renewed hope for a post-season spot — and possibly Grey Cup success — after two straight wins over the Ottawa Redblacks.

Following last Saturday’s 45-31 victory in the nation’s capital, the Red and White sit fifth in the West at 7-8, tied with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 14 points but having played one more game. While the Edmonton Elks have clinched a playoff spot at 11-4, the B.C. Lions and the Saskatchewan Roughriders have not at 8-6, leaving them, the Blue Bombers and the Stampeders in the chase for the three remaining CFL post-season berths.

And the encouraging part for the Stamps is their remaining games are against the Roughriders, the Bombers and the Lions. Beat all of them, and they are playoff-bound. Beat a couple of them, and they’re likely playoff-bound.

But as they’ll tell you, the approach needs to be taken one game at a time.

Each game also carries tiebreaker weight.

The Riders won the first meeting 40-37, meaning Calgary must win by at least four points Friday to secure the higher point differential.

“We know what this game means if we get it,” Philpot said. “We know what this game means if we don’t get it.”

The remaining contests against the Bombers and the Lions will settle those season-series tiebreakers.

“Obviously, there’s urgency,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “We understand that. We know that. We just want to win this game. We just want to play well. We want to do our part.

“If you get beat, make them earn it. The key is making sure we’re prepared, we’re ready to play, and we give it everything we got.”

• Elks: 11-4, 22 points — clinched
• Lions: 8-6, 16 points
• Roughriders: 8-6, 16 points
• Blue Bombers: 7-7, 14 points — crossover position
• Stampeders: 7-8, 14 points — outside playoff position

• Lions — @ Argonauts, vs. Redblacks, @ Stampeders, vs. Blue Bombers.
• Stampeders — @ Roughriders, @ Blue Bombers, vs. Lions.
• Elks — @ Tiger-Cats, vs. Blue Bombers, @ Roughriders.
• Roughriders — vs. Stampeders, @ Alouettes, vs. Alouettes, vs. Elks.
• Blue Bombers — @ Alouettes, vs. Stampeders, @ Elks, @ Lions.

Some call a trip to Mosaic Stadium “fun”.

Others call it “hostile”.

Whatever the Stampeders term it, the adventure must be embraced.

The crowd is close, the noise travels, and Rider Priders understand the value of making the atmosphere uncomfortable for the enemy.

So the Stamps go there Friday needing composure as much as production.

“Oh … it’s hostile,” Philpot said. “We know it’s one of the best environments in the CFL. The fans are going to be into it. We know again what’s at stake for them, so you know it’ll be a playoff atmosphere.

“And you can kind of feel in the air,” continued the star hands-man, the newest 1,000-yard pass-catcher for the CFL club after hitting the milestone last week in Ottawa. “You know … the cool air is coming out. As a Canadian guy, I know that’s when all the best football happens. So we’re expecting it to be a dogfight. We know it’s going to be ups and downs, but it’s the West. It’s been tight all year, so we expect another tight one.”

Yes … Philpot & Co. will need everything they can lean on — such as offensive lineman Brad Ashmore’s perfect record as a starter with the Stampeders.

The American tackle is 3-0 in his starts with the club after joining in July for his first taste of three-down football.

This trip will be his first to Regina. He’s heard about the reputation of the fans there, but he is not treating crowd noise at Mosaic as fuel for football.

“We bring it all ourselves,” Ashmore said. “I don’t think the environment has anything to do with it.”

Oh … but it just might, Brad.

At the very least, the Stamps have to be prepared for the experience in must-win contests.

“Definitely a new experience for me playing in a new country — new game, new rules …” continued Ashmore. “But we’ve just got a great group of guys, a great team, some great leaders, and we’re just ready to head into this weekend.

“It’s been fun.”

And they need to keep it fun in Regina.

“It is a fun place to play,” Dickenson said. “But it is tough to play there.

“Short trip for us, so an hour (by airplane). What I’ve been told it should be pretty good weather. Great building — it’s got a great feel. They have great crowd support. So for us, you know, just go do our job and handle their noise, handle their excitement, handle whatever’s thrown at us, and make sure we play our best.

“They have great crowd support,” added Dickenson. “For us, just go do our job and handle their noise, handle their excitement, handle whatever’s thrown at us, and make sure we play our best.”

Philpot has spent much of his life sharing milestones with someone who looks remarkably familiar.

This one belongs to him.

The receiver passed 1,000 yards for the first time during Saturday’s win in Ottawa, catching enough of CFL star-of-the-week Vernon Adams Jr.’s 422 yards to reach a number he had imagined since childhood. Philpot finished with 127 yards, lifting his season totals to 71 receptions and 1,042 yards.

“It’s something that I’ve always dreamed about as a little kid,” Philpot said. “That’s kind of the number that all-star receivers want to get, and it kind of solidifies yourself as one of those guys.”

His previous career high was 830 yards last season. Injuries interrupted his earlier climb, including the hamstring problem that required surgery and cost him the 2023 season. Reaching four digits is partly about talent and partly about being available long enough to let that talent accumulate.

“It was just I had to prove it to myself,” Philpot said. “I just knew I had to stay healthy, and once the plays came to me, just had to keep making the plays.”

Identical twin Tyson has helped turn 2026 into a weekly track meet for the Montreal Alouettes. The ‘other’ Philpot is atop the league with 1,528 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns heading into Week 18. He was the first receiver to reach 1,000 this season and the fastest Canadian ever to do it, arriving there in eight games.

“It’s cool to be able to see him do it because it kind of tells you that you can do it once you’re healthy,” said the Stamps’ Philpot.

The twins competed together with the University of Calgary Dinos before landing on opposite sides of the CFL. Jalen went fifth overall to the Stampeders in the 2022 draft, and the Alouettes selected Tyson four picks later.

“It’s a friendly competition,” Philpot said. “We didn’t really talk too much leading on to early years, but now it’s one of those things where it’s a little more friendly. It’s a big competition, though.”

His brother’s pace may be beyond reach, but Philpot’s season has its own value.

The Stampeders needed a receiver capable of winning downfield, working through contact and turning Adams’ confidence into explosive gains. Their connection began in the off-season and became one of the offence’s most dependable features.

“Whenever VA can put the ball up in the air, and I can go make a play, I think that just talks to me and his connection,” Philpot said.

“I feel like we really see the field very similar.

“He’s looking fast and running with the ball,” Dickenson told reporters following his team’s win in Ottawa. “He does a lot of gritty stuff in the run game, as well.”

That production matters now because the Calgary club needs all hands on deck.

And his breakthrough has helped the Stampeders find confidence, keep their season alive and regain control of their path to the playoffs.

“We’ve got places to go,” added Philpot. “It was super cool, but that was last week. We’re on to Sask this week.”