Roughriders cash in on Argonauts’ costly miscues in win

REGINA — There will be no Toronto Argonauts sweep of Saskatchewan in 2026.

In front of a sold-out Mosaic Stadium, where 33,350 seats were filled for the CFL’s biggest crowd of the season, the hometown Roughriders used a noisy fan base to expose a few leaks in the Argonauts' boat en route to a 28-24 Saskatchewan win.

Reminiscent of a 12-round boxing match, the opening quarter featured the teams feeling each other out by trading short touchdown passes. Then the bout went from jabs to haymakers when Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly connected with Damonte Coxie for a 58-yard-hookup to set up a second Tyler Kahmann touchdown catch for a 13-7 Argo lead early in the second quarter.

But Toronto had trouble holding the momentum. Botched converts were especially problematic for the Argonauts in this game, resulting in a four-point swing.

After the second Toronto touchdown, receiver David Ungerer was caught on the wrong sideline, creating an illegal substitution penalty that marched the Point-After-Touchdown back 10 yards, resulting in the kick hitting the upright and the Argos missing out on a single point.

Then later, after a third Toronto touchdown, Argos kicker Brady Lidster’s kick was blocked by Mike Rose and returned 79 yards the other way by Marcus Sayles to pull the Roughriders two points closer.

Chad Kelly, who went 28-of-38 passing for 416 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for the Argonauts, took some big hits in this game, including a pair of sacks, and had to leave momentarily in the third quarter, being relieved by backup Nick Arbuckle.

Trailing 24-21 just before the three-minute warning, the 'Riders lined up for an 11-yard-field goal attempt to try and tie the game when Argo Tarvarus McFadden jumped offside, sparking a roar from the capacity crowd and giving Saskatchewan a fresh set of downs to set up a Tommy Stevens two-yard touchdown run to give the hosts their first lead of the game — going ahead 28-24.