EDMONTON – The goal for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was two-fold: to cross the finish line still riding a high, and just as important, bust through the tape minus any sign of a limp.

And so the most effective summation to Saturday afternoon’s regular season finale – a 33-24 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos in front of an announced crowd of 27,749 at Commonwealth Stadium – might be this:

Mission – sort-of – accomplished.

Leaving some starters at home and limiting the work of the others who did dress, the Bombers had their five-game winning streak snapped to fall to 10-8. And while Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly put up some gaudy numbers – he was 29 of 35 for 320 yards – the Bombers exited Saturday’s game with no major injury issues.

That’s important, given their next game – next Sunday’s West Division Semi-Final in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders– will be both the next step in their quest for a Grey Cup and a do-or-die scenario.

The trip to Saskatchewan was confirmed later Saturday night after the Calgary Stampeders knocked off the B.C. Lions 26-9 in Vancouver. That victory locked up first for the Stamps and slotted the Riders into second.

And just FYI, the last time the Bombers travelled to Regina for a playoff game was 43 years ago – November 8, 1975, to be exact – as hall of famer Ron Lancaster passed for 338 yards in a 42-24 Riders victory.

The last time these two squads met in the playoffs was the 2007 Grey Cup, in what was a 23-19 Riders win.

Asked what effect the loss might have on the club’s momentum/mojo heading into next week, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea offered this:

“I don’t think anything, really. I mean, you don’t find me talking about momentum from a win carrying over into the next game, so I won’t talk about the loss of momentum when we lose. I still think we could have won this game. I’m still not pleased with certain portions of the game. We’ll watch the film, make the corrections… but, as always, very quickly we’ll be moving on to whoever we play next.”

Three intriguing subplots emerged from the game, aside from the desire to keep the win streak going and stay healthy.

First, Chris Streveler made his fourth start of the year for the Bombers and served up another dose of why so many across the Canadian Football League are intrigued by his skillset. The fresh-from-college pro completed nine of 15 for 190 yards, including an 80-yard TD strike to Corey Washington, and also rushed 10 times for 76 yards and a 29-yard scoring run that brought the Bombers to within six at 30-24.

“We came up short in the points column and that’s the only important stat at the end of the day,” said Streveler. “I’m obviously disappointed about that. We came here to win a football game and didn’t accomplish that. Regardless of who’s out there that’s always our main goal and we came up a bit short today.”

Second, Andrew Harris needed just eight yards to capture his second-straight rushing title and he did it in style, rushing for four yards on his first carry and then busting up the middle for 31 for his second to earn the crown. He exited the game at that point, saluting his O-line as he left the field.

He became the first Bombers running back to win consecutive rushing titles since Charles Roberts in 2005-06.

“It’s great to have a coaching staff and an organization that wants to help you achieve your goals and give me an opportunity like they did today to get some runs in,” said Harris

“Those guys (the O-line) work so hard. They’re such a cohesive unit and they care about the run game so much. They care about my success and just the overall success of the rushing totals, as well. A lot of times the running back gets all the shine and all the praise, but those five guys up front deserve every bit of it as well. Those five-six guys that I’ve been playing with all years are warriors. I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else. At this point in my career it’s a great achievement. It’s something you definitely take a lot of pride in. I’m just enjoying it right now.”

And when it was suggested at his age, now 31, he should be slowing down, Harris grinned and then added:

“Yeah… I’m getting better. Fine wine.”

Third – and arguably the most intriguing subplot – Ryan Lankford stepped in for Justin Medlock to handle all the kicking chores. The veteran receiver/returner hit a 28-yard field goal, connected on all three of his convert attempt, punted six times for an average of 44.3 yards and kicked off four times, with an average of 64.3 yards.

His teammates, FYI, have nicknamed him ‘Golden Foot.’

“It was a lot of fun,” said Lankford. “It really was a lot of fun. It took me back to my younger days in high school and Pop Warner. It was just nice to do something to help the team. I knew that my role was changing drastically this week, but I just embraced it and played like a kid out there.”

THE BIG STAT

5-1: The Bombers record since the Banjo Bowl. Even with Saturday’s loss they will enter the playoffs as arguably the hottest team in the CFL.

FYI

The Bombers two inactives were WR Weston Dressler and K Justin Medlock… Charles Nelson made an impact in his first game, particularly on special teams. He returned five kickoffs for 123 yards and four punts for seven yards, while also drawing praise from Mike O’Shea for his work on the kick-cover units… DB Chris Humes also made his CFL debut, and led the Bombers with eight tackles… University of Manitoba product Geoff Gray also saw some time in his first game as a Bomber.

MILESTONE WATCH

Harris became the first Bombers RB to win consecutive rushing titles since Charles Roberts in 2005 and 2006. Dating back to 1950, the other Bombers RBs to win back-to-back rushing crowns were Michael Richardson (1992-93), Robert Mimbs (1990-91) and Willard Reaves (1984-85).

NUMBERS GAME

21: Combined TDs for Chris Streveler this season – 11 passing and a team-high 10 rushing scores.

3: The number of times in the last 25 seasons a player has kicked a field goal and scored a touchdown in the same season after Lankford joined the club on Saturday. The others: B.C.’s Lui Passaglia on November 4, 2000 on a one-yard run and Troy Westwood of the Bombers, who scored a TD on a 12-yard fake field goal in 1995.

76: Rushing yards for Chris Streveler, giving him 401 yards on the season.