Courtesy Toronto Sun:

REGINA — The winds at Taylor Field were howling stout and the temperatures were cold enough to numb receivers’ fingers and make the football feel like a rock.

Sounds more like a day for a struggling offence to crawl into hibernation rather than break out of a slumber.

But rise and shine the Argos attack did yesterday, crushing the Saskatchewan Roughriders 41-13 to clinch first place in the CFL East and a bye to the Nov. 18 division final.

“The way we’ve been playing the last couple of weeks, we owed it to the team, we owed it to the defence, we owed it to the special teams,” said quarterback Michael Bishop, who threw for a career high 366 yards. “We got it done.”

Taking advantage of a Roughriders team that had nothing to play for in the standings, the Argos offence smelled blood.

Despite the conditions and a quality opponent that came in riding a five-game win streak, the Argos not only won big, but rolled up some significant numbers.

Bishop threw three touchdown passes, two to Andre Talbot, who has been one of the consistent bright spots on the Argos offence all season.

Arland Bruce III had a nifty 38-yard touchdown snag in the fourth quarter and his 171 yards on 10 catches matched a career high.

And John Avery, in for injured Robert Edwards for a second consecutive week, scored a pair of touchdowns on goal-line plunges.

The 28-point winning margin was the Argos’ biggest of the season and will be a huge boost for an offence that has had a target on its back for some time.

“When we explode like this, they really do believe we can be a dominant football team,” Argos coach Mike (Pinball) Clemons said. “People in our city were pretty tough on (Bishop). Our offence had been ridiculed a little bit.

“I think it went a long way to help (Bishop). It strengthened his resolve.”

Two of the Argos’ touchdowns capped dominant, clock-churning drives of 92 and 98 yards. “Absolutely magnificent, a thing of beauty,” Clemons said.

As unlikely as it seemed prior to Labour Day when the Argos were a suspect 2-6, they capped the season with a seven-game win streak to finish 11-7.

The win set up a potentially magical month for the storied franchise. After the bye, the Argos will play host to the division final with an eye to advancing to the Grey Cup at the Rogers Centre the following week.

Yesterday, the Boatmen were helped by a listless opponent despite a sellout crowd of 28,800 at a stadium about to play host to a playoff game for the first time in 19 years.

“Nothing surprises me in this league,” said an angry Roughriders coach Kent Austin, who called out several of his players. “It’s not like the (Argos) haven’t scored this year. They played well, we didn’t, not a good combination.”

“It was crucial,” said Talbot of the offensive outburst. “We knew we could do it, we just had to go out and prove to ourselves what was there.”