Argos sail to win at Mosaic Stadium, beat Riders 40-34

The Toronto Argonauts had an offensive outburst at Mosaic Stadium, getting a 40-34 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday in CFL action.

Toronto, which was technically the home team in the game as BMO Stadium is currently being used by the FIFA World Cup, got another big game from quarterback Chad Kelly as he threw two touchdowns and ran for one more in the big win against the defending Grey Cup champions.

“Chad balled out,” said defensive tackle Mike Rose, who had two sacks in the contest. “Let’s leave it at that.”

Head coach Corey Mace thought his team just didn’t play complementary football in the game.

“I thought there would be times — it was a rough night for the defence — but there was times we would get them two-and-out, we get a return and the offence is heating up then we take crucial penalties and are moving even further backwards,” Mace said.

Argos rusher Sam Hicks started the game off with a bang, as he took his first carry of the game 61 yards deep into Riders’ territory. After that big run, the Riders held him in check, only getting 16 yards the rest of the game

The Riders’ defence finally got its first turnover of the season as linebacker Josh Woods picked off Kelly to end the Argos’ first drive of the game.

But Saskatchewan went two-and-out on the ensuing drive, which led to a punt.

That punt would end up being the first score of the game when Argos returner Janarion Grant took an Oscar Chapman punt 68 yards the other way. It was the second time in as many weeks the Riders’ special teams gave up a return touchdown.

“Janarion kind of pressed it to the field and we know how dangerous he is with that. He put his foot in the ground and kind of caught us over-pursuing. We have to make sure we are on our Ps and Qs — everybody in the organization,” Mace said.

Saskatchewan suffered a few key injuries in the game as returner James Letcher Jr. left the game early. Sam Emilus took over return duties but he suffered an injury as well and left the game.

“It’s pro ball. We lost our returner, Sam has done it for us before and he is a good one,” Mace said. “He didn’t come back out there but to say, ‘ Why is he returning?’ Well, why is our starting linebacker playing punt — it’s pro football.”

Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Josh Woods had the team’s only interception in a 40-34 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on June 26, 2026. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)

Wide receiver Daniel Wiebe, who dressed for his first CFL game, scored a touchdown in the contest. He hauled in two catches for 48 yards.

“It’s super exciting. I have been dreaming of these moments since I was a kid,” said Wiebe, who is from Saskatoon and played for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. “To be able to do it with the Riders, it means everything, being a hometown kid, so extremely exciting.”

Running back Quali Conley also contributed in his first CFL game. He got the start due to A.J. Ouellette being ruled out with an ankle injury. He had 50 yards on eight carries and a touchdown in the game.

“It felt good but we didn’t come out with the win so it was so-so,” Conley said.

Riders quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 409 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the game.

“It’s a few plays here and a few plays there. The only thing guaranteed in pro football is adversity. Great teams just respond better than others,” Harris said. “We have to make sure we watch the film. We have been able to overcome the mistakes in the first couple of weeks and this week, we weren’t. We shot ourselves in the foot in all three phases, really.”

Once again, Saskatchewan got good production from its receivers in the game. KeeSean Johnson had 10 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Kian Schaffer-Baker had eight catches for 89 yards in the contest.

Short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens also scored a touchdown in the game on a one-yard plunge.

The Riders also saw an opportunity to take the lead slip away as it started a drive with 6:07 left in the fourth quarter and only down by two points.

However, on the first play of the drive, Jaylen Johnson fumbled the football and the Argos recovered on the Riders’ 32-yard line. That drive ended in a touchdown for Toronto, which extended it’s lead to 40-31.

Rose knows the defence needs to be better.

“We need to play better in the run game. We have to start collecting these sacks,” Rose said. “They are there, everyone sees them and we are getting there. We need to start collecting them.”

Ali Saad and Jaylen Pate had sacks in the contest as well.

Kicker Alex Hale made both of his field goal attempts in the game as well as all four convert kick attempts.

Harris believes it’s how this team responds to this loss that will be the biggest thing they take away from it.

“It’s easy to respond and come back and work hard when you win and overcome the mistakes and end up winning the game. I know the make up of this team. We will respond with tremendous focus and a tremendous work ethic and come back and get better next week,” Harris said. “I know the DNA of this locker room and that’s exactly what we will do.”