They tried the pooch kick, but the greyhound picked it up anyway.

With a four-point lead, the Calgary Stampeders tried booting a kickoff away from dynamic Edmonton Eskimos returner Tristan Jackson.

But Jackson sprinted up for the short kickoff, bobbled it, then went 35 yards to set up the game-winning score last night as the Eskimos beat the Stamps 38-35 at Commonwealth Stadium.

"We knew coming in it's a chore to handle him," said Stamps head coach John Hufnagel.

"They did get the one big return, and we tried to do that safe kick and they still get the big return. We have to do better.

"It's a bitter pill to swallow. It's very disappointing to lose that way, and we have to get better."

The late kickoff return came after Jackson took back a fourth-quarter punt 71 yards to set up another touchdown.

But the Stamps defence didn't come up big when it needed to either, allowing the Eskimos to get a go-ahead touchdown after both plays.

What kind of money would a player like TJ make in the CFL?

"I think Edmonton was very smart in signing him to a contract extension. I think he's one of the best I've seen in my six years up here. He's fast, he's strong, he's fearless and he has great vision. He's as good as you're going to go against."

Moving forward, though, the defensive backfield has a lot of solid prospects with players like Craig Butler and Tristan Jackson.
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The Roughriders haven't gotten any return touchdowns either, but players like Tristan Jackson and Brandon West have provided a spark. With a special teams group that was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2010, it was refreshing to see the group stay out of trouble this season.