Mike O'Shea has thrown plenty of opponents to the ground during his 14 years in the CFL and knocking down three more Friday night will put him in some pretty heady company.

The Toronto Argonauts linebacker from North Bay, Ont., heads into Friday night's contest against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (TSN, 7:30 p.m. ET) needing three tackles for 1,000 in his career. Getting them would make him just the third CFLer _ and first Canadian _ to reach the plateau.

Willie Pless is the all-time tackling leader with 1,241 followed by Alondra Johnson at 1,084.

``Having 1,000 tackles means I'm very fortunate to have played as long as I have, my body has held up,'' O'Shea said after practice. ``We'll have to see if it even happens. Three tackles for me is sometimes a stretch.''

Finding motivation shouldn't be. The Argos (10-6) can clinch first place in the East Division with a win over the 8-8 Roughriders combined with a Montreal Alouettes (9-7) loss to the

Edmonton Eskimos (5-11) on Saturday.

An Argos loss and they could end up tied in the standings with the Alouettes, setting up a battle for first with Montreal next weekend in Toronto. In a worst-case scenario should they lose both games, the Argos could finish third and open the playoffs at Winnipeg versus the Blue Bombers.

``We've got to win for us,'' O'Shea said. ``We've got to put it all together so that we know what we're capable of.''

Standing in their way is a Roughriders team locked into third-place in the West Division that will open the playoffs against the 10-7 Stampeders in Calgary. Even though the game is meaningless for them, head coach Danny Barrett will field his regular lineup including running back Kenton Keith, who returns from a rib injury.

``We brought our best players to play. That's what we do,'' said Barrett, who declined to comment about the near-constant speculation about his future. ``We still got some things we need to get better at. This isn't a practice run. This is for real.''

Barrett also brushed off concerns that he was risking his starters to injury, saying the club's final two games offered an opportunity to fine tune for the playoffs. Quarterback Kerry Joseph agreed and suggested the Argos would find a rather stiff challenge on the field.

``It's all about getting better,'' said Joseph. It's not just a game we want to come out and play, we want to come out and win. And that's the way we approached it all week long.''

For the Argos, just reaching this point is an achievement after opening the season 2-5.

A couple of months ago the atmosphere around the club was one of doom and gloom as injuries ravaged their roster and reaching the playoffs seemed laughable. The low point came in a 31-7 loss at Montreal on Aug. 3 in which the offence didn't break midfield.

Head Michael (Pinball) Clemons managed to keep things on track back then while players like quarterback Damon Allen, running backs Ricky Williams and John Avery and linebacker Michael Fletcher got healthy.

``After that Montreal game, we were a team that day that was outmatched. It's important to be honest with yourself and confront the brutal facts,'' Clemons said. ``It's one thing to be optimistic and believe you can salvage the season, you can make the playoffs and you can win the Grey Cup.

``But when you're in that situation it's very, very difficult. As a coach, those are the situations you get paid for.''

The team's ensuing 8-1 run certainly changed all that but by no means does Clemons think he has it all figured out. Rather than focusing on what the remaining games mean in the standings, he's more concerned about cleaning up his team's problems before the post-season.

``I'd have to talk to you for an hour for that,'' he replied about what he'd like to fix. ``We need to get better in every phase of the game.''

Notes: Injured Argos kicker Noel Prefontaine is hoping to play Friday but will be a gametime decision. He says placekicking causes him more pain than punting but he wants to do both if Clemons gives him the green light. The Argos signed Dana Segin to their practice roster just in case. Special teams players Chris Hardy will handle the kicking duties with Segin as his back up if Prefontaine has to sit.