GAME NOTES: With the postseason still a possibility, the British Columbia Lions try desperately to keep hope alive at home on Sunday afternoon as they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

British Columbia is currently tied with Edmonton for third place in the West Division, with both teams sporting 12 points with two games to play. The Lions, who will face Hamilton in the regular-season finale next week on the road, played in their third straight wild matchup a week ago when they slipped by Calgary for a 36-31 victory on the road. Prior to that BC had fallen in back-to-back overtime matchups against Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Against the Stampeders, British Columbia ran out to a 17-point advantage in the first quarter, but in the second half the squad went cold and had to hold on for the narrow victory. Quarterback Travis Lulay converted 17-of-26 passes for 263 yards and a score, but he was also intercepted twice and sacked three times. On the ground Lulay accounted for a game-high 59 yards and also scored once on seven carries, but it was kicker Paul McCallum who saved the day with three successful field goals in the fourth quarter, giving him a total of five conversions and 18 points overall in the decision as he and the Lions kept hope alive for the postseason.

As for the Roughriders, they've already secured a spot in the postseason with their 18 points in the West Division, but the squad could have closed the gap with front-runner Calgary last week and made the fight for the division crown a little more exciting, but the team didn't figure on a 39-24 loss to Edmonton on the road. The defeat was the third in a row for a Saskatchewan club that had not dropped back-to-back games all season until the current slide.

The problem for the Roughriders last week was the ineffective play of starting quarterback Darian Durant who converted 12-of-22 passes for 143 yards. In hopes of breathing some life into the offense, Durant was pulled in favor of Ryan Dinwiddie who converted 5-of-7 attempts for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but his efforts failed to keep Saskatchewan out of the loss column yet again. Cary Koch emerged as Dinwiddie's favorite target, as the wide receiver reeled in eight balls for 107 yards and two majors in just his third game ever in the CFL. No one else on the roster caught more than a couple of passes for the Roughriders as they stumbled to another setback.

Saskatchewan appeared to have the division under control just a few weeks ago, but now the squad appears to be a bit desperate. Granted, every quarterback in the league has been pulled at one time or another because of lackluster production, and Durant is no exception. What might be surprising is that it hasn't happened more this season, given that he has almost as many interceptions (19) as he does passing touchdowns (22) with two games left in the regular season. Durant does lead the league in passing yards with 4,865, but that's more a matter of just staying in games than it is lighting up the opposition on a regular basis. Since breaking into the league and really getting a chance to produce only a few years ago, Durant has always had trouble setting himself apart from the rest of the league's QBs. He has a career completion rate of .604 and has thrown nearly as many picks (46) as he has TDs (53), so this year is nothing out of the ordinary for the North Carolina product.

Needless to say, Durant has to be more than thankful that he has a guy like Wes Cates setting up behind him in the backfield. given how much the back has contributed to the offense this season. Needing just 40 yards to reach 1,000 for the second time in his career, Cates has already established a career-high in rushing touchdowns with 14, and in fact leads the league in that category.

While Durant has had his issues in 2010, they don't even compare with that of the BC passing attack which is currently sixth in the league with barely 4,000 yards. Showing the lowest completion percentage in the CFL (.581), the Lions have cost themselves more than a few chances to be competitive this season. At this stage the unit is averaging just a single TD pass per game and has more total interceptions (19), which is great news for the Roughriders and safety James Patrick who leads the league in picks with nine.

As far as the all-time, regular-season series between these two clubs is concerned, Saskatchewan owns a 90-76-4 advantage dating back to 1954. The Roughriders have won three in a row over BC, including a 37-13 romp back in August.

Both teams still have something to play for this weekend, so it is important to limit mistakes and capitalize on those made by the opposition. With far more talent on offense, the Roughriders should be in a position to come out on top, that's as long as Durant doesn't slump again.