Chicago Bears defensive tackle William Perry spikes the ball after scoring a 1-yard touchdown during Super Bowl XX, a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots on January 26, 1986, at the Louisana Superdome in New Orleans, La. Photo by Al Messerschmidt /Getty Images

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The Ottawa Redblacks are proving to be bad gamblers.

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Particularly, in short yardage situations.

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Through four games, they have officially converted just six of 12 third-down gambles, and on five of those stops, they have failed to move the chains when a yard or less was needed.

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Maybe it’s time for them to pull out a secret weapon in Edmonton on Thursday night against the Elks.

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Maybe they should turn to their very own William (The Refrigerator) Perry.

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Listed as a starting defensive tackle for the second game in a row is Jelani Stafford, a 25-year-old rookie from Brownsville, Pa., who is listed at a bowling ball-like 5-foot-11, 292 pounds.

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Stafford, who has yet to record a defensive stat for the Redblacks, was in on 107 tackles, including 53 of the solo variety, over three seasons at Connecticut.

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In his sophomore season with the Huskies, he had 15 carries for 22 yards and six touchdowns. He also had one catch for 10 yards.

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At his high school in Coal Center, Pa., Stafford rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a senior after rumbling for 1,608 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior.

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Perry was a huge defensive tackle who played 10 NFL seasons (1985-94), eight and a half of them with the Chicago Bears.

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He earned the nickname “Refrigerator” at Clemson because a teammate said he was as big as one, but with the Bears, he was also called “Biscuit” as in “one biscuit shy of 350 pounds.”

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Along with his 29.5 sacks, the ‘Fridge also lined up as a fullback and carried the ball five times for seven yards and two touchdowns, including one as the Bears won Super Bowl XX.

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His career also included one touchdown pass.

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At this point, why wouldn’t the Redblacks give Stafford the ball?

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Will the Redblacks have to endure another “White out”?

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Yes, Canadian wide receiver Keelan White will miss his second straight game with an ankle injury.

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That’s a significant absence for the Redblacks.

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The North Vancouver, B.C., product had 10 catches for 99 yards in the first three games, but he also has scored two touchdowns, both in his last outing, in a carryover from the red zone connection he established with quarterback Jake Maier in the preseason.

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Taking White’s spot will be Binjimen Victor, the former Edmonton Elk, who caught two passes for 32 yards in his Redblacks debut against the Alouettes.

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Is this the week Ottawa finally breaks into the win column?

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Quarterback Jake Maier believes they’re trending that way.

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“The nice thing is that a lot of our shortcomings are really in our control,” said Maier. “I feel like the last two weeks, man, to be completely blunt and honest with you, we played two teams that were featured in the Grey Cup last year, and two teams that I think a lot of people would consider Grey Cup caliber teams (this season), and we took them down to the wire. That’s not me talking about moral victory at all, but what it is saying is that we’re definitely good enough to play with anybody in this league. And then the separator now will be, how can we not beat ourselves? Because those teams are good enough to beat you as it is. We just have to make sure we’re not beating ourselves.”