THE CANADIAN PRESS

HAMILTON -- Hamilton Tiger-Cats president Scott Mitchell is not planning to make changes to the football operations department of his struggling CFL team, not even if it loses this weekend, and again the following weekend.

The Ticats have already endured plenty of losing this season, dropping four of their first five games. As a result, the team is now faced with an unusually meaningful early-season home-and-home with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where another two losses could bury Hamilton in last place.

"We've got a good group," Mitchell said this week. "We're looking forward to working together for a long period of time. I take pride in the fact that I've only hired one general manager and one coach since I've been here — and that's not going to change any time soon."

The Edmonton Eskimos fired general manager Danny Maciocia last weekend, one day after winning their first game of the season. The B.C. Lions are 1-4, amid growing discussion over the future of Wally Buono, who is the CFL's all-time coaching wins leader.

Hamilton signed general manager Bob O'Billovich to a contract extension in April. The team extended head coach Marcel Bellefeuille's contract three days later.

"When you hire people, you make a commitment to them," Mitchell said. "My commitment to our guys isn't for five or seven games. It's for years and years."

Hamilton (1-4) sits last in the East Division, two points behind Winnipeg (2-3) for third place. The Ticats host the Blue Bombers on Saturday (TSN, 7 p.m. ET), and head west for the return match next Friday knowing that back-to-back losses could leave them as many as six points adrift in the standings.

The expectations were much higher heading into the season after Hamilton finished second in the division last season, earning the right to host a playoff game for the first time in eight years. It did not seem unreasonable to predict the Ticats would chase the Montreal Alouettes for the division lead.

"When we break down film, we see that we're not really a 1-4 team," Ticats linebacker Otis Floyd said. "We've got a lot of good players and we've played a lot of good football, we've just got to put everything together."

Hamilton wasted a record-tying performance from slotback Arland Bruce III in a loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week. The 32-year-old hauled in 16 catches for 272 yards and two touchdowns, only to have turnovers from teammates undo his good deeds.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn threw for 425 yards and three touchdowns against the Roughriders, but was saddled with two interceptions after receivers failed to hold onto the ball.

Hamilton entered the week with one of the three best passing offences in the league, but it also had the worst rushing game. Second-year running back DeAndra' Cobb has struggled to recapture his rookie form, averaging a mere four yards per carry.

The team's defence has also been unexpectedly porous. Despite employing what should be the strongest linebacking corps. in the league, the Ticats are allowing more than 30 points per game on defence.

"I'm not in a panic mode at all," O'Billovich said. "When you watch the games we've played, and you look at it objectively and watch how the outcomes have been decided, we could have won all of our games."

Winnipeg missed the playoffs last year after losing to Hamilton in the regular season finale. The Blue Bombers dismantled and rebuilt their team, employing quarterback Buck Pierce as a centrepiece of a new offence.

The 28-year-old is a talented and capable leader who also has an alarming inability to stay healthy through the course of a season. He injured his right knee in a game three weeks ago, and his status for Saturday had become an unpopular guessing game in Winnipeg this week.

Winnipeg has beaten Hamilton once this year (49-29, July 2), and has also lost once (28-7, July 16).

The Blue Bombers own the CFL's longest Grey Cup drought, which threatens to reach 20 years this November. The Ticats have the second-longest drought, having not hoisted the championship trophy since 1999.

"The mood's very optimistic, very positive," Mitchell said. "We've got a great organization that we feel good about, moving forward. The team's played well at times, but we just haven't finished."