Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) -

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (4-3) AT MONTREAL ALOUETTES (6-1)

DATE & TIME: Friday, August 21, 7:30 p.m. (et).

GAME NOTES: Running away with the East Division with just a single loss thus far, the Montreal Alouettes shoot for their third consecutive win this week as they challenge the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Percival Molson Stadium.

Since falling to Edmonton in a 33-19 decision back on July 30, the Alouettes have registered a pair of wins to move to 6-1 and take a commanding lead in the division standings.

Last week, Montreal took care of Winnipeg rather easily as quarterback Anthony Calvillo threw four touchdown passes in a 39-12 romp on the road. Calvillo continued to dominate the league as he completed 23-of-37 passes for 261 yards, but he was also picked off twice by the Blue Bombers, something that has been a rarity for the signal-caller to this point in the campaign.

Used somewhat sparingly, Avon Cobourne ran the ball just 11 times for 49 yards and caught two passes for another 12 yards. Kerry Watkins reeled in five balls for a game-high 105 yards and a score in the victory.

As for the Roughriders, they started out strong against Hamilton last Sunday, let up and then got back on track in what turned into a 33-23 win at home. Darian Durant converted just 15-of-30 passes for 193 yards, while Steven Jyles connected on both of his attempts for 21 yards and a touchdown in the decision. Jyles was also credited with one rushing attempt, resulting in a two-yard TD.

Wes Cates led the way on the ground for the Roughriders, who are now tied with Edmonton for first place in the West Division at 4-3, with his 19 carries for 117 yards.

From a defensive standpoint, Saskatchewan held Hamilton to just over 20 minutes of ball possession and allowed the visitors a mere eight first downs and only 31 yards on the ground. The standout performer on the unit was defensive end John Chick who posted a pair of sacks and forced a fumble on his way to being named the CFL Defensive Player of the Week.

Thanks to the effort last week, Saskatchewan is now third in the CFL in terms of yards allowed per game with an average of 335.7 ypg. But as strong as that may sound, the fact remains that Montreal is at the top of many a defensive list after seven games and leads in that department as well with a mere 282.0 ypg permitted.

The Als have allowed the fewest first downs (119) and have the toughest run defense which has given up just 62.9 ypg thus far. Even with the effort versus Hamilton, the Roughriders are still in the middle of the pack with 120.7 ypg surrendered on the ground. What's worse is that Saskatchewan is second-to-last in the CFL with an average of 6.4 yards allowed per rushing attempt, something Montreal and Cobourne will have their eyes on this coming week.

Saskatchewan is looking a lot stronger against the pass though, ranking first in the league with just 6.9 yards per pass. However, in the first meeting of the season between these two squads back in July, Calvillo diced up the Roughrider defense for 281 yards and two touchdowns on 24 completions, numbers that fly in the face of what the Riders have done overall to this point in the campaign.

Cobourne, who has been credited with 106 carries thus far, is second in the league with his 534 yards rushing, but leads the CFL with seven touchdown runs. Oddly enough, for someone who has taken the ball as much as he has, Cobourne's longest run measures just 22 yards, the shortest of any of the top nine running backs in the league.

Calvillo continues to be the dominant passer in the CFL, hitting on nearly 75 percent of his attempts for 2,175 yards and 11 touchdowns. Add to that a mere four interceptions and it is easy to see how Calvillo, the Offensive Player of the Month in July, has an efficiency rating of 108.2.

Durant is fourth in the league in passing yards with 1,507, leading to nine touchdowns, but he has also being picked off eight times and that's the third- highest total in the CFL. Now in his fourth season, Durant has already established career highs in passing yards and TDs and while he is close to eclipsing his career best for rushing yards in a season, his two touchdowns on the ground have already been offset by three fumbles.

As far as the series between these two clubs is concerned, dating back to 1961 and taking into consideration only regular-season meetings, Montreal owns a 32-26-1 mark versus the Roughriders. In the third week of the season the Als posted a resounding 43-10 win versus Saskatchewan on the road.

After having back-to-back games in which he failed to throw a touchdown pass, Calvillo appears to be back on track even if his overall accuracy versus Winnipeg was somewhat questionable. Throw in Cobourne, who is bound to have a bounce-back effort, and again the Alouettes are tough to go against this week.

My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Montreal 42, Saskatchewan 20

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (2-5) AT BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS (3-4)

DATE & TIME: Friday, August 21, 10:30 p.m. (et).

GAME NOTES: Tied for last place in the East Division with Toronto at a mere 2-5 after seven weeks of action, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers try to snap a two- game slide on Friday night when they challenge the British Columbia Lions at BC Place Stadium.

Last Saturday, the Blue Bombers were matched up against the hottest team in the CFL, Montreal, and like most opponents found themselves on the losing end of what became a 39-12 decision in Manitoba. Scoring was at a premium for Winnipeg as the program tallied single field goals in both the first and third quarters and a pair of successful kicks by Alexia Serna in the second frame.

The Bombers generated a mere 12 first downs and turned the ball over four times, not to mention suffering 15 penalties for a loss of another 117 yards.

Quarterback Michael Bishop, took a number of steps backward in the contest as he converted just 13-of-35 passes for 155 yards and a pair of interceptions. Running back Fred Reid, who a week earlier had been named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week, tied for the game-high with 49 yards rushing on 10 carries in the losing effort.

From a defensive standpoint, the Blue Bombers managed to pick off Anthony Calvillo twice, matching the number of INTs the signal-caller had tossed in the previous six outings combined. Winnipeg leads the league in interceptions with 16, but clearly that stat could be overrated given the number of wins the Blue Bombers have posted thus far. Unfortunately, while getting two interceptions from Calvillo, Winnipeg also allowed the league's top passer to slice the defense up for four touchdowns as well.

In the case of the Lions, who were just 1-4 through the first five games of the 2009 campaign, they logged their second consecutive win last Friday with a thrilling 36-28 come-from-behind victory over the Toronto Argonauts on the road.

After being held scoreless through the first quarter and coming up with single touchdowns in both the second and third quarters, BC erupted for 22 points in the fourth, while limiting the home team to just three, in the eight-point triumph. The win was the ninth straight for BC against the Argos and extended Toronto's losing streak at home to nine as well.

Aside from allowing Toronto kicker Justin Medlock to tie a club record with seven successful field goals, nearly everything went right for the Lions as they held the home team to a mere 24 yards rushing on 11 attempts. Sure, the defense permitted a whopping 326 yards through the air, but in the end it made little difference.

Jarious Jackson converted 21-of-31 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns, against just one interception, for British Columbia's offense while Rolly Lumbala was credited with the lone rushing touchdown for the squad on a one- yard effort in the second frame. Receiver Paris Jackson reeled in six balls for 122 yards and two touchdowns for BC, enabling him to win Canadian Player of the Week honors.

Although he has attempted almost 100 fewer passes than fellow signal-caller Buck Pierce, Jackson already has one more touchdown pass (seven) and has made better decisions with the ball, resulting in only four picks.

Handling much of the action on the ground for the Lions, Martell Mallett is third in the league in rushing with his 492 yards, averaging just under six yards per attempt. However, for someone who has handled the ball as much as he has, Mallett should have more than two rushing scores after seven games. Mallett is tops in the CFL in yards from scrimmage with 722, one of only three players to have more than 630 yards from scrimmage at the moment.

Nevertheless, even though Mallett has been kept out of the end zone for the most part, British Columbia is still tied for second in the league with 20 touchdowns thus far and is tied with Calgary for first with 13 passing scores.

The strong suit for the Blue Bombers, if there is such a thing for a team that has just two wins in seven tries, is a pass defense that has three players with at least three interceptions thus far. Siddeeq Shabazz, the CFL Defensive Player of the Month for July, has a league-best four picks, two of which he has returned for touchdowns. The team as a whole has 16 interceptions, while BC runs a distant second with nine.

Dating back to 1954, the regular-season series between these teams favors the Blue Bombers who hold a 79-69-2 record in 150 meetings heading into this week. Last season, the teams played each other in consecutive weeks, with the Lions winning both contests, first with a 42-24 triumph at home on July 11 and then a 27-18 home victory seven days later.

These teams are scheduled to meet once more during the regular season when the Blue Bombers host BC on October 18.

The juggling of quarterbacks among the Lions should be cause for concern and could give Winnipeg reason to believe it can actually win on the road this week. However, if the BC defense comes to play then the Blue Bombers are in for another letdown.

My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: British Columbia 31, Winnipeg 24

Overall Season Record: 12-16; Last Week's Record: 3-1.