Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Troy Westwood has played in three Grey Cups during his 17-year career. He's lost all three times. (Ken Gigliotti/Winnipeg Free Press/Canadian Press)

Troy Westwood has played in three Grey Cups during his 17 seasons in the CFL.

Three times he's been denied.

Six years have passed since Westwood last tasted bitter defeat in the Grey Cup, but it's a loss that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker remembers vividly.

Winnipeg was the best team in the CFL in 2001, posting a club-best 14-4 mark and tying a league record with 12 consecutive wins, and most pundits predicted they would easily brush aside the Calgary Stampeders (8-10 during the regular season) in the Grey Cup in Montreal.

But Calgary deviated from the script and posted one of the biggest upsets in Grey Cup history, carving out a 27-19 victory over the shell-shocked Bombers.

Westwood missed three of four field goals that day against Calgary, a poor performance that capped off what was at the time his worst season statistically, as he converted only 60.8 per cent of his field goal attempts that year.

Today, at the age of 40, Westwood is philosophical about the loss to the Stampeders and he plans on using it as personal motivation heading into Sunday's contest against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Toronto (CBC, 5:30 p.m. ET).

"I still watch that game at least two times a year and think about it once a week. It taught me that you can be completely prepared for something that's really important to you and still experience failure," Westwood told CBCSports.ca.

"But the lessons I learned from that game and the added mental toughness and the emotional toughness that contributed to whatever I am today … they say as men and women we are the sum of our experiences, and that game made a very big impact on me as a human being and I'll carry those lessons and those teachings into this Sunday."

Getting over that shocking defeat to the Stampeders was no easy task, explained the veteran kicker.

"It was really hard to get back into the gym and dedicate myself in the spring and rebound emotionally and mentally and get strong again after that game," said Westwood.

"But I don't plan on that happening again this year. I think it was a hideous aberration compared to what I've done in big games in the past, but it is a part of my history."

Westwood boasts a league-best 85.7 field goal percentage in 15 career playoff games (not including Grey Cup contests), but the native of Dauphin, Man., is coming off his worst CFL season in 2007: he connected on a career-low 60.6 per cent of his field goals and tallied just 94 points, his lowest total since his rookie year in 1991.

He found himself in coach Doug Berry's doghouse early and was benched in the second game of the campaign. He was back on the field the following game, but was sidelined by a hamstring injury a few weeks later and dropped to No. 2 on the depth chart behind fellow Canadian Rob Pikula late in the season.

Playoffs mark a new start

Westwood only regained the starting kicker's job when Pikula suffered an injury in practice a few weeks ago, which led to him taking over kicking and punting duties in the playoffs.

The veteran kicker responded by booting a 20-yard field goal as time expired to lead Winnipeg to a 24-22 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division semifinal. A week later, against the hometown Argos, Westwood accounted for seven of the Blue Bombers' 19 points in a 19-9 win over Toronto in the East final.

According to Westwood, the consistency problems that plagued him during the regular season immediately washed away when the post-season began.

"The good thing about the playoffs is that the second you're in the playoffs, whatever happened, whether you were successful or disappointed with what you did in the regular season, becomes irrelevant, it doesn't matter," Westwood said.

"So the second that regular season was done, especially this year for me individually, it just goes in the garbage and it's dead and done. It's in the history books. All that matters is the next Sunday, because it's the nature of the playoffs."

Westwood has enjoyed great success with the Blue Bombers, as the future Hall of Famer currently ranks fourth on the CFL's all-time scoring list. The only thing missing from his stellar resumé is a Grey Cup victory, a goal he's worked towards his entire career.

"There have been thousands of hours in the weight room, thousands of hours of practising, it's something you dream about as a kid interested in football when you're four or five years old," Westwood said.

"I've been there three times, had it snatched away all three times. Getting there to the game and losing is worse than missing the playoffs. We just need to do whatever it takes to win. We have to win on Sunday."

And if Winnipeg wins against Saskatchewan, will he return for an 18th season in 2008?

"I have no plans to retire. That doesn't mean I will be back here, but I have no plans to retire," Westwood said.

So, you won't rule out signing with another team in the league?

"I don't know. All I care about right now is Sunday and performing to perfection and making a positive contribution," Westwood said.