Staying positive is the main focus for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as they prepare to host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the final game of Week 5 in the Canadian Football League.

The Riders head into the game off to a league-worst 0-4 start to the season, which includes three losses on their home turf at Mosaic Stadium.

They will be on the road for their next two games, which means they want nothing more than to finish off their early season homestretch with a win.

“That’s the culture that coach (Corey Chamblin) presented this year, he wants us to stay positive, he wants not to worry about the past and just move forward, and it’s wearing off on guys,” said quarterback Kevin Glenn after the team’s walkthrough on Saturday.

For a team that has stumbled out of the gates to four straight losses, they’re saying all the right things right now as they look to get back on track.

While the Riders have struggled to start the season defensively, the offence has been clicking on all cylinders, which might be part of the reason that the team remains confident.

They’ve lost all four games by a combined 12 points.

“We’ve been tough for a great percentage of the quarters, but it’s just making sure that all the pieces are in place for all four quarters,” said Chamblin.  “Some of it’s youth, some of it’s new guys working together, but we’ve honed down on it to where they understand exactly what the scheme is and exactly where the pieces fit.”

The Riders haven’t found a groove on the defensive side of the ball yet this season as teams have been able to go up and down the field on them whenever they need to.

Chamblin said he’s seen some moves in the right direction from that group, which has seen a lot of change already early in the season.

“I’m seeing leaps and bounds and I told one of the coaches that it looks like textbook now, so it looks like the pieces are fitting together now and those are positive signs that we’re moving in the right direction there,” said Chamblin.

After last week’s loss to BC, the Riders were talking about sticking together in the locker room and Glenn said that has been a big part of them being able to move on from their losses so far and stay focused on the week ahead.

“You can have a teams that’s 0-4 and when you’re worrying about stuff that you can’t control, which is the past and what happened here,” said Glenn.  “It can effect you in practice because you’re thinking about things that you have no control over and that’s not really pertaining to the week, so coming out and still having good practices is a plus because that means that we’ve put everything behind us.”

It’s still too early for must-win games, but the Riders are staring down a tough hill to climb if they fall to 0-5 to start the year.

The magnitude of a win isn’t lost on the players heading into Sunday’s game against the Ti-Cats.

“We need a win and we’ve been very, very close and that’s another important thing because the guys see it,” said Glenn.  “We’re striving for those two or three plays and make it a different result.”

“I told the guys to put on your hiking shoes and lets get ready to climb this mountain,” added Chamblin.  “I really feel like we’re going to start to roll off some wins here, but also the guys have worked so much that they’re due.”

The Riders will get receiver Ryan Smith and returner Nic Demski back in the lineup this week, which should help their already potent offence.

They kick-off at 5:00pm on Sunday night from Mosaic Stadium.