HAMILTON, Ont. -- Marwan Hage was born in Beirut and raised in Montreal, giving him with the ability to chastise or encourage his Hamilton Tiger-Cat teammates fluently in three languages.
At this point in the season, though, his message would sound the same in English, French or Arabic.
"Nothing needs to be said," the veteran centre said. "Everybody knows we're a good team. We know we're a good team. The bottom line is we've got to go out and perform."
The Ticats have stumbled to a 1-3 start this season, falling into sole possession of last place in the CFL's East Division when many had predicted they would challenge for the lead. Hamilton has struggled in areas where it had once seemed secure, and the team will not find a sympathetic ear on Saturday when it travels to Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
You can see the game on TSN and TSN HD beginning at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt.
It is not an unfamiliar position for the Ticats, but it is unexpected given the steps forward the franchise finally seemed to take last year.
Hamilton hosted its first playoff game in eight years last season, which was a welcome development for a fan base drained by four consecutive last-place finishes. Kevin Glenn established himself as the starting quarterback and DeAndra' Cobb showed promise as a versatile running back.
The team bolstered hopes over the off-season by signing kicker Sandro DeAngelis, but he has instead become a leading contributor to Hamilton's early malaise. The ultra-confident 29-year-old has misfired on five of his first 11 field goal attempts of the year, leaving him with the worst success rate (54.5 per cent) in the league heading into Week 5.
Cobb, a revelation as a rookie, has been comparatively silent a month into his sophomore year. The 29-year-old has been held to an average of only 34.2 rushing yards a game, compared to the 71.6 that he managed last season.
Hamilton has already been blown out twice, suffering two defeats of at least 20 points, including a 37-14 loss to the division-leading Montreal Alouettes last week.
"I don't know if there's anything wrong with this team," Ticats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said. "I fee like the team's headed in the right direction."
He said the coaching staff will tweak its approach to short-yardage situations and iron out some wrinkles on special teams. Bellefeuille downplayed the chance of any dramatic course of action, such as changing the quarterback or jumpstarting a rotation between Glenn and third-year understudy Quinton Porter.
"It's not showing up in the win column, but we're doing a lot of good things," Glenn said. "We're doing small things not right -- little things -- and we've just got to make sure we do those things right."
Glenn has only thrown one interception in four games, which is surely one of the things the offence has done right, and he also has one of the highest completion percentages (65.2) in the league.
"We know what our problem is," Hage said. "We know we're a disciplined team. It's just a matter of going out and putting all our weapons together and putting up a great fight."
And a fight is what they will find in Regina.
Saskatchewan (3-1) was upended in a 40-20 loss to Calgary last week, and should enjoy the benefit of a raucous home crowd at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday. The Roughriders had opened the season with three straight wins, and they remain undefeated in two games at home.
"We're an offence with opportunities anywhere on the field," said Roughriders receiver Prechae Rodriguez, who spent his first two CFL seasons with the Ticats. "A lot of playmakers. It's awesome to be a part of that."
Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant entered the week with the league lead in passing yards, with 1,325, and was tied for second with eight touchdown passes. No offence had scored more touchdowns (14) or generated more total offence per game (490 yards) than Saskatchewan's.
"Hamilton's a great organization," Rodriguez said. "I know they got a good game plan for coming in here this week. It's a very explosive offence over there, as well."
The trick for the Ticats, then, will be finding the trigger for that explosive offence.
"They're a good team, and they've shown that they're a good team," Glenn said. "But I think we're doing some good things, and we're a good team, too."
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