The Tigers were 24-18 ahead before their play-off bid was rocked when they were sunk by late tries from centre Tony Martin and scrum-half Jarrod Sammut.
It was a repeat of the late collapse that saw the Tigers lose 40-24 at Harlequins two months ago when they conceded four tries in the last 10 minutes.
They missed a great chance to consolidate their top-eight place because play-off rivals Wakefield suffered a 50-6 home defeat against St Helens.
Tries from Joe Westerman and Dean Withers had put the Tigers 12-0 ahead. However, Crusaders levelled at half-time thanks to tries from Rhys Hanbury and Jordan James, went ahead from Weller Hauraki and then let in touchdowns from Michael Shenton and Rangi Chase before their late winning burst.
If they had hung on, Cas would have enhanced their chances of staying in the top eight ahead of Crusaders, Bradford and Wakefield.
"We had to overcome a few obstacles in that we lost our two front-rowers at half time," said Matterson.
"After a really solid start, I thought we could go on and get on with it. But credit to Crusaders, they hung on in there and got back to level and then went ahead of us.
"We showed some fight but the last 10 minutes was pretty diabolical, to be honest."