Greg Marshall earned his first win as a CFL head coach in impressive fashion, beating the defending Grey Cup champions in their own stadium.
Marshall's Saskatchewan Roughriders picked up their first victory of the season on Sunday night with a 27-24 decision against a Montreal Alouettes team that was missing starting quarterback Anthony Calvillo for two and half quarters with an eye injury.
"It feels pretty good," Marshall said. "To come in here and get a win against these guys ... we just hung in there and battled.
"Taking Anthony out of the game was a big play for us. It slowed their offence down, but our defence was playing well even when Anthony was in the game. We felt good coming in here for whatever reason, and our guys played their butts off. I got the ball, but I wish I had one for everyone. They all deserved it."
Weston Dressler and Wes Cates scored touchdowns and Eddie Johnson went 4-for-5 on field goals for the Roughriders (1-3).
Backup quarterback Adrian McPherson scored twice and threw a TD pass to Brian Bratton for Montreal (3-1), which hopes to have Calvillo back for a tough test Friday night in Hamilton.
The Riders led 14-7 midway through the second quarter when a rushed Calvillo was taken down by former Alouette Dario Romero while throwing an interception to linebacker Sean Lucas.
The 18-year veteran who is chasing a few of Damon Allen's all-time passing records, said he suffered blurred vision in his right eye on the play, even though he was wasn't poked in the eye. He was to go to hospital to have the eye examined after the game.
"I don't think it was (a poke)," he said. "I've been poked before.
