Alouettes feast on Roughriders in 44-24 Thanksgiving classic

Davis Alexander eclipsed 5,000 passing yards on the season and the Montreal Alouettes rolled past the Saskatchewan Roughriders 44-24 in the CFL's Thanksgiving Day Classic on Monday afternoon.

Alexander joined Anthony Calvillo as the only quarterbacks in Alouettes history to reach the 5,000-yard mark.

The 27-year-old from Gig Harbor, Wash., threw for five touchdowns, one interception and 403 passing yards on 26-of-33 completions. He also rushed for 40 yards on three carries as Montreal (13-3) finished undefeated at home in the regular season for the third time.

Jerreth Sterns added eight receptions for 124 yards, while Charleston Rambo and Tyler Snead made two touchdown catches apiece before a sellout of 23,035 at Molson Stadium.

Montreal, which clinched first place in the East Division last week, returns home to host the Eastern final on Nov. 7.

Saskatchewan quarterback Travis Harris also hit the 5,000-yard mark for the second time of his career, but the Riders (8-8) dropped their fourth consecutive game amid a tight West Division playoff race.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Saskatchewan remained tied for third with Winnipeg (8-8) and Calgary (8-9) at 16 points. Both the Blue Bombers and Stampeders hold the season-series tiebreaker over the Riders, but four West teams will make the playoffs via the CFL's crossover rule.

Harris finished with two touchdowns, one interception and 243 yards on 23-for-33 passing in the rematch of last year's Grey Cup game. Kian Schaffer-Baker caught two touchdowns.

Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther, in his first game since Saskatchewan reacquired him from Ottawa, converted 3-of-3 field goals, including one from 51 yards. Montreal's Jose Maltos Diaz went 3-for-3.

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