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No matter who you ask on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers about their Week 4 matchup in Calgary, you'll find an answer along the lines of "we're only concerned with ourselves."

So when the Blue & Gold enter the barn of the defending Grey Cup Champion Stampeders on Saturday — a showdown of two 2-1 clubs fighting for an early spot atop the West — they'll be looking to ensure they are clicking in all three phases.

Let's start on special teams, where one of the most dynamic players to touch the ball for the Bombers last season was Troy Stoudermire. Working solely as a returner — and in just seven games — the CFL rookie led Winnipeg in combined yards with 1,192.

Set to make his first start of the season after breaking bones in his right hand early in training camp, Stoudermire may find himself utilized in more than the return game.

"Yes, I'm a three-phase weapon. That's how I look at myself," said the former receiver during his time at the University of Minnesota. "I think a lot of players on defence would love to come to offence to get the ball a couple times, so I'm very excited about that."

"Coach told me to just keep my head focused and keep studying the offence and you never know where you're going to go if someone goes down. So I'm just ready to go anywhere they want to call me."

During the practice week late last season and again early in camp this year, Stoudermire spends time at both defensive halfback and wide receiver — this week taking receiver reps with the first-team offensive unit.

"I'm just ready to help my team in any way I can. If anyone goes down on offence, I'm up. If anyone goes down on defence, I'm up. But in the meantime I'm going to do what I do best — catching punt returns and kick returns."

While breaking a hand may be a "cast 'em up" scenario for a lineman, Stoudermire knows the health and strength in the hands of a ball carrier like himself are critical.

"With me, I use my hands with everything. I'm an athlete so I need to catch the ball, catch punt returns, and knock down a pass on receivers, so having my hands is big."

Whether or not he's tapped on the shoulder to play wideout or halfback, Stoudermire will definitely be returning kicks. While healing, the 25-year-old had a chance to watch other returners across the league and critique them.

"I see a lot of guys not taking advantage of hitting the hole. A lot of guys are back there dancing. I'm the type of guy that sees a hole, hit a hole. I don't want to think too much back there. There's not a lot of time. So if you sit back there it's like a quarterback, you hold the ball too long the pocket is going to close. In kick return and punt return, if you stand back there and dance too much the hole is going to close, so you've got to hit it when you see it."

The Blue Bombers special teams have helped them win games in 2015, but the offence, however, remains hot and cold in the early stages of the season. In Winnipeg's two wins, the running game has proven important in keeping opposing defences honest.

"If we can run it at a high rate I think it's just going to open up the pass. That's what we're going to try to do every single week," said quarterback Drew Willy. "But just depending on the game and how it's going, you never know if you're going to run it or pass it more. You always want to be able to run when the defence knows you're going to run. That's how you build that confidence as an O-line and as an offence."

In his second season as Winnipeg's signal caller, Willy himself has found the most success when the offensive attack is a balanced one. In their two wins, Winnipeg ran the ball as many tines as completed passes. 

"I think it helps any quarterback when you can get the running game going. Play-action passes open up. An O-line, they love to run block. When you're running on a defence, it kind of takes their will away. The guys won't rush as hard up field — the D-ends — when they know they've got to play the run. So it all works together. And then when you're passing it well the run opens up as well. Anytime you can be balanced, that's the key to success for us."

"There's also ways you can run it in second and long — draws, screens, just different things to keep the defence guessing. Us, as an offence, we want to be versatile and never give our hand away to the defence."

While Winnipeg has remained relatively healthy through training camp and three weeks of the regular season, the defence took a big hit this week as veteran defensive tackle Bryant Turner suffered a hand injury and has landed on the Six-Game Injured List.

Timely, this week, in his return from the Six-Game is four-year NFL-veteran Nate Collins — a 300-pounder whose career was paused when he tore his ACL sacking New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in 2013. A non-related lower-body injury suffered in his first CFL training camp has kept him out of action this season, but the Bombers were high enough on him to keep him around.

"He does show good football IQ. Explosion. Short-area quickness, as the scouts like to say," said head coach Mike O'Shea of Collins, who will be rotating reps in Calgary with fellow interior lineman Deantre Harlan. "He's a guy when we brought him in the scouts thought very highly of him."

"I'm still getting adjusted to a new game, and it's actually good to see a flow of a few games and see how things go, certain situations, tendencies, because it is a different game," said Collins. "Just what teams want to run and what they want to do. It's been a lot of mental building, but for sure I'm champing at the bit to get out there."

Collins knows it'll be an adjustment, but is comfortable enough in his game for it to be a smooth transition in his first CFL contest.

"I feel like for me up front, luckily, for a D-lineman, it's really not that much different. The one yard (off the ball), and once you get over that it's just football. Beat the guy in front of you, try to get to the quarterback, and that's the biggest thing. I feel like I've gotten that down pat, just a few little fundamental things that you have to be conscious of and switch up with that one yard, but I feel like I've put in a good effort getting better with that every week. The key is just to get better, not take any steps back, and that's what I've been doing."