CFL.ca Staff

VANCOUVER -- The Calgary Stampeders know exactly what they need to do the next time they meet the BC Lions - get off to a quick start.

After stringing together an impressive stretch to get within striking distance of first place, the Stampeders had an opportunity to move into a tie atop the West Division with under a month remaining in the regular season, were they able to beat the Leos Saturday night.

Outscored 10-0 in the second quarter, veteran linebacker Juwan Simpson knows that a full 60 minutes is a must this late in the year, especially against the defending Grey Cup Champions.

"If we played the first half like we did the second half, I think we'd come out with a win,'' said Simpson.

"We just started out too slow,'' he continued. "When you're playing a team like BC, a veteran team, you can't give them any leads or anything. We had a good second half, we played good, but with a team like that, you just can't give them any time to think whatsoever. We've just gotta bounce back.''

The Stamps scored 16 points after halftime against the Lions on Saturday night, but it wasn't enough to overcome Travis Lulay and the Lions.

Stampeders quarterback Kevin Glenn threw for 141 yards and one touchdown in the second half after putting up 101 yards and no touchdowns in the first half. He also threw two interceptions on the night.

Calgary head coach John Hufnagel thought Glenn could have been better.

"There were some throws I thought he could have made,'' he said. "On the second interception he just didn't get enough on the ball.''

Lulay, meanwhile, put up 268 passing yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Simpson said the Stampeders will need to look ahead after the tight loss.

"That's behind us now. We've just gotta get in the film room, take some directions in, and get ready for Winnipeg.''

The two teams will face each other again in their penultimate games of the season on Oct. 26.

"We gave ourselves an opportunity to get something accomplished and we just didn't finish it," said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. "When you have to settle for field goals when you had the oppurtunity to score touchdowns, that's usually not a good thing."

"We were in spurts on offence,'' Calgary head coach John Hufnagel said. "We played good defence. We had a good first quarter and we had a good fourth quarter. What we need to be able to do is make sure the lows aren't as low as they were, because in the third quarter we only had the ball twice and the series were only two and out. Obviously, on the other side, our defence has to be able to get off the field, too.''

- With files from The Canadian Press/Stampeders.com