REGINA -- Kory Sheets, Taj Smith and Geroy Simon scored two touchdowns each as the Saskatchewan Roughriders improved to 8-1 for the first time in their 103-year history with a 48-25 win Sunday over the feisty Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
It was Sheets' second touchdown of the game, on Saskatchewan's first possession of the third quarter, that gave the sellout crowd of 44,910 -- the second largest ever for a football game at Mosaic Stadium -- some life.
With the Riders trailing 18-14 at the half, quarterback Darian Durant hit Chris Getzlaf with three passes for 71 yards on the drive and Sheets finished the job with a one-yard run to give Saskatchewan the lead for good.
Chris Milo kicked his longest field goal of the season, from 47 yards, to make it 24-18 after the third quarter and the Riders did not let off the gas.
The league-worst Blue Bombers dropped to 1-8 for the first time since 1997 with their seventh straight loss.
Durant threw a 40-yard pass to Weston Dressler on the first series of the fourth quarter, which led to an 11-yard TD grab by Smith and a 31-18 lead.
Winnipeg quarterback Justin Goltz tried to make it interesting when he blew by Saskatchewan defensive back Dwight Anderson to complete a 46-yard touchdown run, but Anderson intercepted him on the next series that led to Smith's second touchdown of the game and a 38-25 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for the Blue Bombers when Mike Renaud's punt was blocked by Spencer Moore, setting up a 23-yard field goal from Milo.
Prince Miller finished off Winnipeg when he returned another Goltz interception 41 yards to set up a 10-yard TD toss from Durant to Simon.
Winnipeg linebacker Henoc Muamba kept the Riders' offence in check for most of the first half by containing Sheets, who entered the game as the CFL's leading rusher with 1,058 yards.
Muamba twice tackled Sheets for a loss, including once in the Saskatchewan endzone leading to a safety and the first points of the game. Sheets finished the first half with 25 rushing yards after averaging over 130 per game through the first eight weeks of the season.
Muamba also became the first player to intercept a Roughriders pass all season when he picked a throw intended for Dressler.
But the good news ended there for Winnipeg, which built its slim half-time lead on a one-yard TD run by backup quarterback Jason Boltus, a six-yard scoring run from Goltz, Muamba's tackle for a safety and two punt singles from Renaud.
Saskatchewan's first-half points came on a three-yard pitch-and-run from Drew Willy to Sheets and a 21-yard touchdown pass on a corner route from Durant to Simon.
Durant finished 24 for 35 for 310 yards while Goltz was 18 for 29 for 182 yards.
Sheets finished the game with 91 yards rushing on 20 attempts. It was only the second game of the year he failed to reach the 100-yard plateau.
