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Jo Jo Walker couldn't have picked a better time to register his first CFL punt return touchdown.

Walker took a Sean Fleming punt 71 yards for the TD as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats held on for an anxious 21-19 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in the battle of the CFL's bottom dwellers Saturday night.

Walker scored 3:38 into the third quarter to put Hamilton (3-15) ahead 21-13, bringing the 20,411 fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium to their feet. But Edmonton (5-12-1) pulled to within 21-16 with 3:20 remaining with a field goal before a Ticats' safety with 1:13 to play made the score 21-18.

Edmonton then took over at its own 35-yard line and rookie Warren Kean lined up a 56-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining. The kick was short and Hamilton gave up the single with 31 seconds to play to snap a five-game losing streak and hand the Eskimos their sixth straight loss.

"It was very important to win because you're only as good as your last game," Walker said. "Coach tells us to hit the hole and make a move and that's basically what I did.

"I hit the hole, made the kicker miss and it was a touchdown. But it was like a dream. I've been trying to run one back all year and I guess the Lord let me run one back in the final game."

Ticats head coach Charlie Taaffe was impressed with the speed Walker showed on the game-deciding return.

"He took it right up the middle and split them and showed a real burst," he said. "That was a huge play for us."

The game was a sloppy one with five turnovers, including three by Edmonton. And has been the case for much of this season, special-team woes contributed mightily to an Eskimos defeat.

"There's really not much to say," said Eskimos head coach Danny Maciocia. "It's basically a little bit of a re-run, giving up big plays on special teams and not converting when we have an opportunity.

"We wanted to put [Kean] in a situation there at the end and see if he was able to make that field goal. He had the distance in the warmup of 54 yards and that was about 56 and he had a nice little wind at his back and we just wanted to give him the chance and see what he could do."

The sparse gathering, coming off a season-low attendance of 19,322 for last week's 27-19 loss to B.C., was fitting of a meaningless game between the league's two worse teams. At least Hamilton could celebrate ending a bad year on a winning note.

"My hat's off to our guys for hanging tough," Taaffe said. "That's a good, positive sign.

"I told them tonight they could look at it as the end of '07 or they could look at it as the beginning of '08. So we finished it with a win and hopefully started something. It's a good feeling to end the season on."

Hamilton starter Richie Williams was just 9-of-19 passing for 100 yards in place of injured regular Casey Printers. Stefan LeFors started for Edmonton and was 15-of-22 passing for 182 yards and an interception before leaving in the second half due to dizziness.

Steven Jyles came in and was 9-of-16 passing for 101 yards and an interception and gave Edmonton a chance for the win late in the game.

"Yeah, he did," Maciocia said. "He made enough good throws."

Eskimos receiver Kamau Peterson suffered a suspected broken foot after registering a game-high seven catches for 79 yards.

Still, the persistent talk is changes are inevitable this off-season for both teams.

Maciocia, also Edmonton's football operations director, is under a lot of heat for having missed the playoffs the last two years, but appears safe in both portfolios. However, player-personnel director Paul Jones, a respected talent evaluator, is reportedly on thin ice.

Taaffe, the CFL's top coach in '99 and 2000 with Montreal, could be forced to make dramatic changes to his staff. Also, rookie GM Marcel Desjardins is on the hotseat not only for Hamilton regressing from last year's abysmal 4-14 record, but also for deals made that have worked out better for his trade partners.

The game capped the illustrious careers of Fleming and Eskimos linebacker Rob Hitchcock. Fleming spent his entire 16-year CFL career with Edmonton and is its scoring leader with 2,571 points. On Saturday, he punted and kicked off, while rookie Warren Kean booted field goals and converts.

Hitchcock spent the first 12 years of his CFL career with Hamilton, earning two CFL all-star nods at safety and winning a Grey Cup with the club in '99. But the Ticats released the Hamilton native this summer and Hitchcock, convinced he could still play, didn't immediately sign his retirement papers. Last month, he joined the Eskimos and said this week he was at peace with the idea of leaving on his own terms and retiring after the game.

Nick Setta booted four field goals and a convert for Hamilton. The other points came on a safety.

LeFors scored Edmonton's touchdown. Kean kicked three field goals and a convert. The other points were on the safety.

Notes: The Ticats added Joe Zuger to their Wall of Fame at halftime. Zuger played quarterback for Hamilton before later serving as the club's general manager . . . Former Ticat defensive end Tim Cheatwood had two sacks and a team-high six tackles for the Eskimos.