Smith's two third-quarter touchdowns rallied the Grey Cup-champion BC Lions to a 24–22 win Thursday over the Argonauts in the first game of the CFL season.

The loss tarnished Levingston's CFL-record 129-yard return of a missed field goal late in the first half that thrilled the Rogers Centre gathering of 29,157 and put Toronto ahead 15–10.

In the second quarter however, the Lions would lose quarterbacks Dave Dickenson and Buck Pierce to injuries leaving third-stringer Jarious Jackson to finish the game.

The Lions were down to their last quarterback as Buck Pierce, who started with a hand injury in place of Dave Dickenson, left the game with sore ribs after throwing his second interception and was replaced by Jarious Jackson.

BC quarterback Jarious Jackson, who replaced Buck Pierce to start the second half, threw touchdown passes to Geroy Simon and Cory Rodgers while Joe Smith ran in a 38-yard score.

Down 25–11 heading into the fourth quarter, the Stampeders chased the Lions with Burris's 36-yard touchdown pass to Copeland at 8:56, DeAngelis's convert and his earlier 26-yard field goal to pull within four points.

But a Burris interception stalled Calgary's momentum as LaVar Glover picked him off and returned the ball 30 yards, which set up Jackson's 15-yard touchdown pass to Rodgers at 11:48 and put the Lions up 32–21.

Burris replied on a two-yard run with 1:19 remaining, after finding receiver Brett Ralph within five yards of the end zone, to keep Calgary's hopes of a win alive.

at BC Place Stadium, Vancouver A crowd of 31,525 saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers erase an eight-point deficit when wide receiver Terrence Edwards scored on a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kevin Glenn at 3:57 of the fourth quarter.

Winnipeg's two-point convert failed but BC's Ian Smart fumbled the kickoff that would set up Rob Pikula's winning field goal.

Paul McCallum was successful early kicking two field goals from 12 and 45 yards, but missed on a critical 43-yarder with just five minutes remaining in the game that would have secured a BC win.

Once again, the Lions responded as Pierce tossed a 30-yard pass to Tony Simmons in the Calgary end zone before Paul McCallum kicked a 28-yard field goal.

Smith, the bruising running back, smashed and crashed for 161 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns as the Lions halted a three-game winless skid in convincing style.

Smith and his speedy backfield partner Smart, sliced and slashed for a pair touchdowns and had 63 yards on 10 carries as the Lions climbed back into first place in the CFL West.

Cory Rodgers caught a touchdown pass and Paul McCallum had two field goals and a single for the Lions, who played their 900th CFL game since 1954. at BC Place Stadium, Vancouver Workhorse running back Joe Smith plunged for two touchdowns as the BC Lions regained first place in the CFL West with a 40–7 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.

His clinching major made it 27–7 and it was set up by Ryan Phillips's league-leading eighth interception as the Lions turned a multitude of Toronto turnovers into points.

BC took a 27–7 lead early in the fourth quarter after Mark Washington punched the ball away from Argo receiver Andre Talbot who leaped for a Bishop pass near midfield.

BC quarterback Jarious Jackson made his fourth consecutive start in place of veteran Dave Dickenson (concussion) and Buck Pierce (shoulder) and managed the game better than his Toronto counterpart.

BC quarterback, Jarious Jackson was only 3-of-14 for 28 yards passing in the first half, while the Saskatchewan Roughriders marched three times for an early 22–7 lead in the first 16 minutes of the game.

With good field position Kerry Joseph was able to complete Saskatchewan's drive when he ran in the end zone making it a 31–22, Roughriders lead.

The Lions (8–3–1) defence then took over picking off a Kerry Joseph pass on the 'Riders' last-gasp drive to hang on and extend the club's lead atop the West Division by three points.

Then the earth caved in for Calgary as Akili Smith, the former NFL first-round pick who was making his first CFL start in place of Henry Burris, limped off with about five minutes left in the second quarter with a slight groin pull after being sacked by Korey Banks.

Knowing they had the Stampeders on the ropes the Lion defence made things miserable for inexperienced backup Barrick Nealy, who spent much of the game running for his life and took some brutal hits.