Rick Zamperin: Do the Tiger-Cats still have some fight in them?

As the song goes, “Saturday night’s all right for fighting.”

A week after suffering what might go down as their biggest loss of the 2018 CFL season in Ottawa, we shall see if the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are going to put up a fight Saturday night when they host the Redblacks.

Hamilton is a game behind Ottawa in the race for first place in the East Division but they still have a chance to leapfrog the Redblacks if the Cats close out the season with two wins and Ottawa loses its final game next week.

The Tiger-Cats should enter Saturday’s game angry.

They have dropped their last three games against Ottawa, including last week’s 35-31 loss, and return to the field for the first time since superstar receiver Brandon Banks suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.

His absence creates an enormous void.

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Since Sept. 1, 2017, Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli and Brandon Banks have combined to become the most prolific quarterback-receiver combination in the Canadian Football League, and it’s not even close.

The pair has connected on 152 completions for 2,341 yards and 18 touchdowns, first in all three categories. The next closest? Masoli and Luke Tasker with 131 completions, 1,777 yards and 16 TDs. Edmonton’s combo of Mike Reilly and Duke Williams are a distant third with 101 completions, 1,720 yards and 12 majors.

As much as the Ticats are going to miss Banks’ production on the field, losing their best player is also a psychological blow.

The Ticats must come out swinging Saturday night, for their fans and for themselves, and if they don’t — especially considering what’s at stake — it will say a lot about the makeup of this team.