Will the Lions or Stampeders bounce back?

Both the Calgary Stampeders and B.C. Lions are coming off some of their worst losses of the season.The Lions were bearded in their own den last Friday, falling 40-23 to the then 3-8 Toronto Argonauts, while the Stampeders came up extremely short on the road last Sunday, losing 31-15 to the then 3-8 Montreal Alouettes. Now, the Stampeders get to host the Lions Saturday night (9:30 p.m. Eastern, TSN/ESPN3). Will one of these teams be able to turn their play around?

At first glance, the edge would seem to be with the Stampeders. For one thing, they're 10-2 on the season, while B.C. is 7-5. They also have home-field advantage, and they're getting some crucial personnel back; they played last week's game without star running back Jon Cornish, leading receiver Marquay McDaniel, famed pass-rusher Charleston Hughes, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and running back/returner Jock Sanders (amongst others), but at least Cornish and Sanders are expected to return Saturday night. That should help boost Calgary's ground game, which has arguably been the league's best this year; the Stampeders are tied for first in the CFL in yards per rush (6.3) and are a narrow second in rushing yards per game (140.2). Meanwhile, the Lions' defence has been generally good, but has struggled against the run, allowing 5.7 yards per carry (second-worst in the league). If Cornish and Sanders can run B.C. over, that will go a long way towards a Stampeders' victory.

The quarterback matchup is interesting, though, and it might favour the Lions. They'll be starting former Kevin Glenn thanks to Travis Lulay's injury, while the Stampeders will be going with Drew Tate for the second week in a row thanks to Mitchell being out. Tate and Glenn played together in Calgary for the last two seasons, with Glenn typically being the second choice there (but still playing a lot thanks to Tate's various injuries), but Glenn might be the guy with an edge in this one.

While Glenn struggled early on this season, he's rounded into form as the year's progressed; he threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns with a 74.1 per cent completion rate two weeks ago against Winnipeg and threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns (albeit with an interception and a lesser 60 per cent completion rate) against the Argos. Meanwhile, Tate showed clear rust in his first start of the year against Montreal, completing just 50 per cent of his passes for 152 yards with no touchdowns and a pick. Tate has shown great potential in the past, but Glenn has the better form coming in here. Unless Tate improves dramatically, the passing game might go B.C.'s way.

Will that be enough to swing this to the Lions? Not necessarily. The defences will have a lot to say about the outcome here too, as they're allowing just 19.3 (Calgary) and 19.7 (B.C.) points per game, the two lowest totals in the league. Both sides have outstanding defensive playmakers, especially in the linebacking corps; the Stampeders' Juwan Simpson and the Lions' Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill are three of the CFL's best. A lot of the outcome here may depend on which defence can stop the other team's strength. Both teams are going to be hungry for a win after their respective bad weeks, but only one can achieve that. We'll see who prevails and who continues to struggle Saturday.