Brady Oliveira carries Bombers to win over struggling Alouettes

Almost everyone in the stadium knew the ball would land in Brady Oliveira's hands, yet the Montreal Alouettes couldn't stop him.

The Canadian running back tore through Montreal's defence for 210 total yards from scrimmage, leading the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 26-13 win over the Alouettes despite the loss of receivers Nic Demski and Jerreth Sterns on Thursday night.

"I just want to help this team win games. This is a massive game for us, we really needed to win," Oliveira said. "We faced a lot of adversity. Proud of the guys for stepping up.

"When guys go down, another guy's going to come in, make the most of the opportunity and honour your brother that has fallen. And I think that's exactly what we did."

Oliveira, the CFL's reigning most outstanding player, also scored a pivotal touchdown with 8:28 left in the fourth quarter to give Winnipeg (6-4) a 23-13 lead.

He finished with 137 rushing yards and added 73 more through the air on nine receptions on a dominant night.

"Special with the football in his hands," Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros said. "Being able to almost run that out was huge for us."

Collaros was an efficient 27-of-31 passing for 263 yards and one touchdown for the Bombers, who won their second in a row after a walk-off victory over the Ottawa Redblacks last week.

Demski caught a touchdown pass before exiting with an injury in the second quarter, then Sterns left the game after a hard hit just before halftime. The Bombers didn't have an update for either player after the game.

The double-whammy forced Winnipeg to field short-yardage QB Chris Streveler as a receiver in the second half — and Montreal still didn't have an answer as Oliveira repeatedly carried the Bombers to first downs.

"He had a great