It wasn't pretty by any means, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders got the job done on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium in knocking off the Toronto Argonauts 30-20 to improve to 3-0 since the return of Ken Miller.

The Riders faced adversity in this game as they struggled to find a groove early and fell behind 9-0 midway through the second quarter, but head coach Ken Miller says their ability to battle back and out score the Argos 30-11 the rest of the way will really help them going forward.

"I think it was really important for us to win that game, had we lost I don't know how I would have approached this session or the session with the team, but having though through and having got the win, I think it will harden us, make us a little more realistic and maybe prepare us as we go down this stretch run," said Miller during his post-game meeting with the media.

Oddly enough, Saskatchewan found their footing after star slotback Andy Fantuz return to Mosaic Stadium was cut short when left the game with an injury.  He injured his lower leg after ending up at the bottom of a pile during a run by Wes Cates.

Fantuz says he doesn't know the severity of it at this point, "I'm not sure what it is yet, we're just going to take the next few days and try to pinpoint it a bit more in detail, but at this point I'm fortunate it's not my knee."

Miller added that he doesn't anticipate it being anything too serious, "Don't know exactly right now, he has some kind of high ankle sprain.  I don't think it's terribly serious, but we won't know until (Sunday) or the next day."

Fantuz had one catch in the game for 12 yards.  It came on the first play from scrimmage for the Green and White.

After Fantuz went down with an injury, the very next play quarterback Darian Durant hit Chris Getzlaf for a 28-yard gain and then followed that with a 27-yard touchdown and the Riders were on the board.

Durant says just they can't have starts like today, "We kind of came out lacks, turned the ball over early and you can't do that with a team like that, especially at home.  Once the second half came, we got our crowd involved, started making plays and wore them down a bit."

The Durant-to-Getzlaf connection was working all game as the Regina native finished with seven catches for 170 yards and the second quarter touchdown.  They also had a beautiful 64-yard hook in the third quarter that set up Weston Dressler's six-yard rushing TD.

Durant says his and Getzlaf's chemistry is years in the making, "You think back to '07 when he first got here, working with the scout team, me and Getzlaf, we worked on our chemistry there, we practiced together everyday and we said once we get our opportunity, we were going to do it when the lights came on.

"I know where Getz is going to be on pretty much every play.  He's there and makes my life a lot easier."

Durant ended the game 21-for-34 with 279 yards passing and five carries for 40 yards rushing.

The game became a back-and-forth battle for much of the second half, but the Riders defence continued their strong play since the return of Miller and turned it on in the fourth quarter by forcing three turnovers out of QB Steven Jyles, including the 34-yard pick six by Chris McKenzie to seal the win with 51 seconds to go.

McKenzie says this team has confidence that they can come back from anything, "No matter what hole we get in, we know we can dig ourselves out, pull ourselves out of it."

This was the second straight game that McKenzie took an interception back to the house and Miller says he likes the confidence that he's playing with right now, "That allows him to play faster, anticipate and see the long arm action of the quarterback, and be able to break on the ball and get it caught."

 

Chris Milo was perfect on field goals for the day, going 3-for-3, including the eventual 25-yard game winner late in the fourth quarter.

Despite not seeing the ball that much and finishing with just 56 yards along the ground, it was a big game for running back Wes Cates historically as he moved into second place on the Riders all-time rushing list, passing Mike Saunders.

He's still only 11,486 yards behind the great George Reed for first on the list, but Cates says just to mentioned in the same breath is enough for him, "George Reed is a football god, so I feel like I'm number one among mortals, so I'll go ahead and conceded that I'll never get there.

"It's a blessing to stay healthy and be a part of an organization like this for so long and to get in there and end up being number two, it's a blessing."

The focus for the Riders now shifts over the BC Lions, who kept some separation between them and Saskatchewan with a 32-19 win over Calgary in Saturday night's Hall of Fame Game.

BC comes to Mosaic Stadium next Saturday night for a game that Miller says will be like the playoffs in September, "Every game is a playoff game, so we just have to play well and we can't afford to go through cyclical ups and downs, playing well and not playing.  We have to get on a course where we play well every week."

That's starts on Tuesday for the Riders when they will return to the Taylor Field turf for their first practice of the week.