For the Ottawa Redblacks to win a game before making dubious history, they'll have to get over a mental hurdle.
A powerful feeling of déjà vu can dominate a player's thoughts when the losses start to pile up.
Just listen to former hard-hitting safety Rob Hitchcock, who knows a thing or two about the highest of highs and lowest of lows from his days with his hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
"Once you lose two or three or four in a row, it's really tough to get out of that jam," Hitchcock, 55, said over the phone this week while taking a break from his current job as a senior sales executive for Aquiform, a swimming pool and hot tub distributor.
"As athletes, you're not thinking you're going to lose the game. But it always was in the back of our heads that you're 0-7, 0-8, we've got a lead in the fourth quarter and it's like, 'Boy, here we go again.' And it's like, boom, we lose it again."
Four years after winning the last Grey Cup captured by the Ticats in 1999, Hitchcock was part of a Hamilton team that still holds the record for having the worst finish in an 18-game CFL season.
The 2003 Ticats went 1-17, avoiding a winless campaign with an overtime victory over visiting Saskatchewan in Game 13 on a walk-off field goal by legendary kicker Paul Osbaldiston at the old Ivor Wynne Stadium.
The Redblacks are 0-11 this year and have set a modern-day CFL record with a 17-game losing streak dating back to last season. Another chance to break the drought comes Saturday in Toronto against the Argonauts — one year and five days after the Redblacks' most recent victory — in the opening game of a rare CFL quadruple-header.
"I can see the body language on those guys. It doesn't look healthy," Hitchcock said. "I don't know them personally but I know what they're going through. They've lost a couple games where they were in the lead as well this year, and just finding ways to lose is a really tough thing to go through in the locker room."
The '03 Ticats team, with players like Hitchcock, Joe Montford, Danny McManus and Carl Coulter, had far more star power than the revolving-door Redblacks this year. Those Ticats had a different kind of problem — ownership. The CFL stepped in to operate the team in August after previous owners failed to meet player payroll.
The '26 Redblacks have no such concerns. The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group provides very stable ownership, albeit while struggling to find a winning formula with the franchise losing games and fans in bunches since 2019.
Player personnel is Ottawa's problem. Quarterback play has been bad since 2019, this year's offensive line is woeful, there is next to no rushing attack, and defence and special teams are inconsistent, at best.
With a first-year head coach in Ryan Dinwiddie and senior adviser Jim Popp recently brought in to fill the hole created by the firing of vice-president of football operations Shawn Burke, the Redblacks haven't been shy about making personnel changes. That can create challenges for players in the locker room, but it also can be a motivating factor.
"As players, when you lose that many in a row, you start looking at yourself in the mirror and say, 'Hey, my job could be in jeopardy right now with a younger guy coming up if I'm not doing my job,'" Hitchcock, a two-time CFL all-star, said. "... There's going to some other guys or changes because changes are inevitable when you're using that many games. You have to make change in any sport. We all took that pretty serious."
Veteran coach Ron Lancaster and a group of players from that '99 Grey Cup team made '03 less of a nightmare than it could have been, Hitchcock said. The Redblacks can't possibly have that same bond.
"We still had our core of guys that won a Grey Cup. The group of guys really held us together," said Hitchcock, who is second on the all-time list for tackles on the Ticats, behind Simoni Lawrence.
"If we didn't have that bond, that culture in the room, it could have spiralled even worse. But how much worse can it get than 1-17?"
The answer, of course, is 0-18 — which would be the ultimate embarrassment for the Redblacks.
However, the Redblacks still should have a fighting chance in a few of their games, including two against the slumping Ticats (4-9), who appear to be the second-worst team in the league by a healthy margin.
And even though the Argos are full marks for being 6-6 while playing 10 of their first 12 away from BMO Field, Saturday's game could be tricky for Toronto, which is on a short week after winning its traditional Labour Day game in Hamilton.
There's also not a ton for Toronto to play for as the Argos appear destined to finish second in the East, barring some very surprising outcomes.
The Redblacks, meanwhile, had a bye week ahead of Dinwiddie's first game in Toronto as Ottawa head coach and general manager. He left the Argos in the off-season following a pair of Grey Cup wins.
Dinwiddie is on a personal 16-game losing streak after dropping his final five games as Argos coach. The one-year anniversary of his last win, Sept. 13, 2025, at BMO Field against Edmonton, is Sunday.
What does an elusive triumph feel like for a winless team?
"I remember the relief of it," Hitchcock said. "Just having that one win and going into that next week thinking there's a bit of a chance here."
Hitchcock hopes the Redblacks get to experience something similar soon. He takes no joy in watching another team on a lengthy skid, adding there's "no way" he wants the Redblacks to go winless.
"You never want to see a team go through that," he said, "especially when you've done it yourself."
Four of a kind
Saturday will mark the CFL's first quadruple-header since 1995, when the league was in the final year of its American experiment.
The last all-Canadian four-pack of games on one day was in 1992.
With the NFL off Saturday and the NHL not yet started, it makes sense for the CFL to give this kind of unique day a try.
Week 15 schedule
Ottawa Redblacks (0-11) at Toronto Argonauts (6-6), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET
The Redblacks easily are the league's worst rushing team and the Argonauts have allowed a league-low 18 passing touchdowns this season. The Redblacks are sticking with Jake Maier at QB for the 12th game in a row.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-4) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-6), Saturday, 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
The annual Banjo Bowl follows last Sunday's traditional Labour Day eve game, won 32-26 by Saskatchewan in overtime after Winnipeg tied it with a touchdown on the final play of regulation. The Roughriders swept this series last year en route to a Grey Cup win in Winnipeg.
Calgary Stampeders (5-7) at Edmonton Elks (9-3), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. MT
The visiting Elks outscored the Stamps 24-3 in the fourth quarter on Labour Day to notch a stunning 38-28 win. The West-leading Elks can clinch their first playoff spot since 2019 with a win. The Grey Cup host Stamps desperately need a victory to stay close to the West pack.
Montreal Alouettes (10-2) at B.C. Lions (6-6), Saturday, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
Another home-and-home series concludes after the league-leading Als won 37-30 in Montreal last Friday. The Alouettes haven't won in Vancouver since 2015.
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