Riders head coach Corey Chamblin. (file photo)

The Saskatchewan Roughriders missed a big opportunity on the weekend with their 37-20 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos costing them a shot at clinching a playoff berth.  They dropped to 8-7 on the year and sit just one game up on the Eskimos for third in the West Division.

Despite the missed opportunity, head coach Corey Chamblin is looking at the game with a positive slant.

“That was just the first crack at the opportunity,” Chamblin told the media on Monday.  “At the end of the day, we still have three more chances and we've come this far and we'll make it.”

The Riders were rolling heading into Commonwealth Stadium, having won three straight games, but they laid an egg in their second loss of the season to the Eskimos.

Chamblin wasn't too worried about his team's effort though, saying that they will learn from it and move on, “You're going to have losses in this game and no matter how hard you prepare.  Sometimes the losses help correct what you've been doing and you move on.

“There's always going to be losses and like I told the guys, you can't get too high with the highs and too low with the lows.  The good thing about it is that we fought back and there was still that fight.”

There were some questions directed to Chamblin about his decision to have the team practice Leibel Field twice last week instead of at Mosaic Stadium, but he says that had nothing to do with the loss, “You have to do whatever to get them ready for adverse situations.  It's not like we went in there and the score was 62-0, I think the guys did a good job of fighting through everything we did.”

The defence had been a big part of the Riders mid-season resurgence, but they had a rough game in Edmonton as two former Riders drove the Eskimos down the Riders defence's throat.  One week after ripping his defence's performance in a win over Toronto, Chamblin was looking at the positives in the loss to Edmonton.

“They just have to stay hungry, that's just one game,” stated Chamblin.  “We just have to focus on those positives and learn from the negatives.”

If there's one positive to come out of the Green & White's loss in Edmonton, it's that they're coming back with no serious injuries.  Chamblin even expects defensive linemen Keith Shologan and Brent Hawkins to get back in the line-up this weekend.

“I think we may see some guys come back.  Even with some nicks and bruises, I think guys will make strides to come back.  We're finally in a place to where we can have a regular week and we'll put our best team out there.”

While some guys are on their way back, punter Chris Milo appears to still be a couple weeks away from getting inserted back into the line-up.  Chamblin said that he was walking without a boot now, but still not ready.

The Riders return to the practice field on Tuesday morning to start getting ready for the Montreal Alouettes to come to Mosaic Place on Saturday.