It has been a sudden fall from grace for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders have been the class of the CFL's West Division the last two years, winning back-to-back conference titles before enduring heart-breaking Grey Cup losses to the Montreal Alouettes by a combined four points.

But three weeks into the 2011 season, Saskatchewan not only sports a dismal 0-3 record under rookie head coach Greg Marshall, the club is coming off an embarrassing 30-3 road loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday. Up next is a visit to Montreal on Sunday against the high-flying Alouettes, who beat the Riders 39-25 in Regina on July 9 and sit atop the East Division with a 3-0 mark.

"What's the alternative, give up?'' said Marshall. "There are a lot of areas where we have to be better in.

"Right now we aren't playing very well and we have to get that corrected in a hurry.''

Trouble is, where does Marshall begin retooling?

Saskatchewan's defence has been the league's worst this season. The unit has surrendered 114 points in three games and the defensive line has failed to get any consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

But compounding Saskatchewan's plight Saturday was both its offence and special teams also spinning their wheels.

Darian Durant, the CFL's passing leader last year, was an abysmal 9-of-23 for 95 yards and was responsible for four of Saskatchewan's six turnovers in the game (three interceptions, one fumble). Through three games, Durant has twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdown passes (three).

With Durant under centre, the offence was non-existent in the opening half, mustering just 34 net yards and two first downs as Hamilton dominated play for a 23-0 half-time advantage. Ticats linebacker Renaud Williams _ a former Rider _ intercepted Durant's first pass of the day and returned it to Saskatchewan's six-yard line.

Saskatchewan's offence is vastly different from last year's unit. Veteran centre Jeremy O'Day retired, Canadian slotback Andy Fantuz and his league-high 1,380 receiving yard last year signed with the NFL's Chicago Bears while receivers Robb Bagg and Cary Koch are both on the nine-game injured list.

But only a 50-yard field goal from Eddie Johnson prevented Hamilton from registering its first shutout since 1974.

The Ticats also dominated on special teams, consistently garnering solid field position in the return game. Marcus Thigpen had five punt returns for 93 yards, a sparkling 18.6-yard average.

Traditionally, an easy remedy would be air-lifting a host of NFL cuts to inject much-needed life into the lineup. But that can't happen this year as a result of the lockout south of the border.

Promoting players from the practice roster would hardly inspire confidence. There's a reason why those individuals weren't on the active roster to begin with.

So, essentially, any change of fortunes will have to come from many of those players who've endured Saskatchewan's early-season woes.

"All we can do is come back to work and keep plugging,'' Durant said. "Whenever you're not successful you can either put your head down or keep your head up and learn from your mistakes.

"Every time you step on the field it's going to be tough. Montreal is a great team but they always bring out the best in us. We'll be ready.''

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CALVILLO WATCH: One down, two to go for Anthony Calvillo.

The Montreal Alouettes star quarterback broke Damon Allen's all-time TD passes record in Friday night's 40-17 home win over the Toronto Argonauts. The 18-year CFL veteran threw two touchdown strikes to boost his total to 396, two more than Allen.

Calvillo can now set his sights on Allen's all-time completions record of 5,158. Heading into Sunday's game against Saskatchewan, Calvillo needs to complete just 39 passes to surpass Allen's mark.

A third Allen mark is also in serious jeopardy of falling to Calvillo this season. Allen is pro football's all-time passing leader with an astounding 72,381 yards but Calvillo remains just 3,282 yards behind with 15 regular-season games yet to play.

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QB WOES: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers' quarterback woes continue.

Last year, No. 1 pivot Buck Pierce was limited to just five starts due to elbow and knee injuries. Pierce left Thursday's 21-20 loss to Calgary at halftime due to a bruised thigh.

Backup Joey Elliott came in but suffered a season-ending knee injury, forcing the Bombers to re-sign Justin Goltz on Monday. Goltz was with Winnipeg during training camp.

The expectation is Pierce will play Saturday when the Bombers (2-1) visit Toronto (1-2) in the Argonauts' home opener at Rogers Centre. If Pierce can't go or is injured against the Argos, Winnipeg will then look to third-stringer Alex Brink.

But Elliott's injury means Winnipeg has lost four quarterbacks to season-ending injury in GM Joe Mack's 21 games with the CFL club.

NOTES: Brandon Whitaker has certainly flourished replacing Avon Cobourne as Montreal's starting tailback. Whitaker is leading the CFL in rushing with 259 yards while Cobourne, who signed as a free agent with Hamilton, is fourth overall with 164 yards. ... The Edmonton Eskimos improved to 3-0 with a 33-17 win over B.C. on Saturday. A big reason for the turnaround is quarterback Ricky Ray, who is second to Calvillo in passing yards with 1,002 yards but is the only CFL passer not to throw an interceptions in 2011. It also helps having the league's top receiver in Fred Stamps (316 yards) to play catch with. Another Eskimo worth noting is veteran kicker Damon Duval, who the Alouettes opted not to-resign this off-season. Duval is tied with Sean Whyte, his replacement in Montreal, for the CFL scoring lead with 37 points. Duval has made 7-of-10 field goals this year and has a respectable 43.3-yard punting average. ... Hamilton signed Canadian-born defensive lineman Sean Ortiz on Monday. The six-foot-two, 240-pound native of White Rock, B.C., appeared in six games with the B.C. Lions last season and attended the club's 2011 training camp.

For a wrap-up of last weekend's game against the Toronto Argonauts, check out the latest Bedell's Blitz.