CALGARY - Maurice Lloyd is an Edmonton Eskimo who believes the Calgary Stampeders aren't taking his football team seriously.

The middle linebacker was annoyed all week with Calgary's attitude after losing to the Saskatchewan Roughriders to conclude the regular season and finish second in the West.

In the heat of post-loss emotion, Stampeder quarterback Henry Burris vowed to return to Regina in two weeks for the West Division final.

Lloyd was still peeved about that comment Saturday on the eve of the Western semifinal between his Eskimos and the Stampeders at McMahon Stadium.

"'We'll see Saskatchewan in two weeks?' You got to get through us first to see Saskatchewan," Lloyd declared. "You may not be able to see Saskatchewan. You need to see Edmonton Eskimos first.

"I feel that a team that looks past another team don't have their mind set right, and I feel disrespected and I hope the other guys feel disrespected because you can get on TV and make a smart comment that you're coming to Saskatchewan in two weeks, I think that just bothers me.

"I don't trash talk, I speak the truth," Lloyd continued. "We will walk out of here with a smile or we'll walk out of here on a stretcher, but one thing we will not do is let anybody overlook us."

Lloyd wouldn't be the first athlete to play the "disrespect" card to rally the troops. The Calgary Stampeders used it en route to winning the Grey Cup last year when some players were passed over for the league's top individual honours heading into the championship game.

But the Stamps insist they will take Edmonton seriously Sunday (TSN, 4:30 ET) despite outscoring them 62-15 in two games this season at McMahon Stadium and taking the season series 3-1.

A loss would end their hopes for back-to-back CFL titles. It would also mean they'd watching two other teams play in their own stadium for this year's Grey Cup on Nov. 29.

"Any team coming into this type of situation, a playoff game, you can't look past anything, especially when it's a win-or-go-home type deal," said Stampeder running back Joffrey Reynolds, the West's nominee for the CFL's most outstanding player.

"I think everybody here in Calgary, we know the importance of this game and what type of opponent Edmonton is. We definitely know we have to go out and play good football."

The weather forecast for Calgary on Sunday is partly sunny with a high of 8 C and a wind of 15 km/h out of the southwest.

The winner meets the Roughriders for the West Division title Nov. 22. Earlier on Sunday, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the B.C. Lions in the East semifinal (TSN, 1 p.m. ET) with the winner heading to Montreal to face the Alouettes on Nov. 22.

Calgary (10-7-1) is favoured over the Eskimos (9-9). Despite their struggles this season, the Esks arrived at McMahon Stadium with the momentum of two straight wins behind them, including a 45-13 thrashing of B.C. to end the regular season.

"It seems like they're starting to get a bit of a swagger to them," observed Stampeder offensive lineman Jeff Pilon.

The Stampeders missed their chance to win the West with that 30-14 loss to the Roughriders. Calgary's offence is ranked No. 2 in the CFL in points and yards per game, but couldn't finish in Regina. Three drives in the second half produced just two field goals.

"When you drive for eight to 10 plays and then settle for a field goal, it's a little discouraging," Stampeder offensive lineman Ben Archibald said. "So we always want to get in the end zone. Points is points so we'll take them, but our goal is to get the major."

Calgary will be without fullback Teyo Johnson, who suffered a minor stab wound during a downtown rave early Friday morning. He was able to join his teammates Saturday to assure them he was fine and lessen the potential distraction of the incident.

"That was a big thing for me to come here and let everybody know what exactly happened and I'm fine and we need to get this victory," Johnson said.

Calgary dominated Edmonton at McMahon this season with 30-7 and 32-8 victories on Oct. 23 and Sept. 7 respectively. The Stamps edged their northern rival 35-34 on Sept. 11 in Commonwealth Stadium and lost 38-35 on Aug. 13.

Burris exploited the Eskimos' lack of pass defence with 1,503 yards and eight touchdowns over those four games. Receiver Romby Bryant, acquired in a trade from Winnipeg this season, had nine catches for 211 yards the last time the two clubs met.

If Edmonton can stifle Burris's arm, Calgary will try to spring Reynolds, the CFL's leading rusher for the second straight season. Reynolds hasn't had big numbers against Edmonton this year, partly because Calgary's air game has been so successful.

"I just think we'll try to have a balanced attack," Reynolds said. "If you look at it, I think the one game Hank threw for about 500 yards, so if that's working, why not stick with the script?"

Edmonton's offence isn't their issue as quarterback Ricky Ray led the CFL in passing this season and slotback Fred Stamps led the league in receiving yards with 1,402.

Running back Arkee Whitlock - a replacement for Jesse Lumsden, injured in the first game of the season - is rounding into form. Whitlock is coming off his best game of the season with 165 yards and two touchdowns against B.C.

The Esks' defence has been its Achilles heel, but after giving up 30 points to Calgary on Oct. 23, they allowed less than 15 in wins over B.C. and Toronto.

"When we play football assignment-soundly, good things happen and we showed that the last two games," defensive tackle Jerome Haywood said. "We want to keep the ball rolling."