Hamilton @ Winnipeg preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 12, 2017 ) Winnipeg 39, Hamilton 12

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers look to win their fourth straight game when they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday. The Blue Bombers are coming off a 28-19 road victory against the Edmonton Eskimos to stretch their lead to six points in the race for second place in the West Division, and hope to move one step closer to hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2011 by sweeping the season series with the Tiger-Cats.

"A home playoff game is something that we need to accomplish," Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris told reporters. "Whether it be first place or second place we're gunning for that." Hamilton's faint playoff hopes are hanging by a thread after it blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in the 43-35 overtime loss to the Toronto Argonauts in Week 15. The Tiger-Cats are five points behind the second-placed Ottawa Redblacks with five games remaining in the battle for what will likely be the last playoff spot in the East Division because of the crossover rule, and hope to stay alive by avenging a 39-12 setback to Winnipeg on Aug. 12. "We've just got to get back and find our mojo again," Hamilton linebacker Simoni Lawrence told reporters. "We've just gotta go out there and put in on the team's neck where we're supposed to win."

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, TSN

ABOUT THE TIGER-CATS (3-10): C.J. Gable rushed for a season-high 157 yards and two touchdowns against Toronto before being traded to the Edmonton Eskimos in exchange for two players on the negotiation list Monday. Jeremiah Masoli threw for 288 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Andy Fantuz made three catches for 23 yards in his first game since tearing his ACL 11 months ago. Alex Green, who rushed for 140 yards in the 24-23 victory against the BC Lions on Sept. 22, will be the new starting running back with Gable's departure while defensive back Demond Washington will miss the next month with an upper-body injury.

ABOUT THE BLUE BOMBERS (10-3): Matt Nichols threw for 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Harris added 54 rushing yards to go along with nine receptions for 81 yards against Edmonton. Defensive back Maurice Leggett, who has two interceptions and one touchdown in his last three contests, left the game with an apparent arm injury and his status for Friday is up in the air. Defensive back Chris Randle was named one of the CFL's Top Performers of the Week after making five tackles and returning an interception for a game-sealing touchdown in Week 15.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Winnipeg has won the last two meetings with Hamilton by an average margin of 26.5 points.

2. The Tiger-Cats have dropped 11 of their last 12 meetings with West Division opponents.

3. Winnipeg WR Darvin Adams has hauled in nine passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games.

PREDICTION: Blue Bombers 35, Tiger-Cats 23