THE CANADIAN PRESS

REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders almost relived their lowest moment of the 2009 Grey Cup on Thursday when another penalty for having too many men on the field cost them a chance to win against the Montreal Alouettes.

This time, however, they were given a second chance -- and they made good on it.

The Roughriders scored four second-half touchdowns and two more in overtime Thursday as they rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat the Alouettes 54-51 in the third-highest scoring game in CFL history.

Riders receiver Weston Dressler, playing his first regular season game since a broken leg ended his 2009 season, caught a 32-yard pass from Darian Durant in the second overtime period that set up his three-yard touchdown reception to win the game.

"I was just happy to be out there again and playing with the guys," said Dressler. "It's an incredible feeling."

Trailing 33-12 early in the second half, Saskatchewan staged an improbable comeback on touchdowns from Prechae Rodriguez, Rob Bagg, Wes Cates, and Andy Fantuz.

Fantuz's touchdown, a five-yard end-zone toss from Durant in the final minute of play, tied the game 40-40.

Durant hit Fantuz for another touchdown in the first overtime period and connected with Chris Getzlaf on the ensuing two-point convert to make it 48-40.

The Alouettes, who gave Saskatchewan first possession in overtime, failed to convert on third-down when they got the ball back, but the Roughriders were assessed a penalty for having too many men on the field, giving the Alouettes a second shot at the end zone.

Avon Cobourne, the 2009 Grey Cup MVP, ran the ball to the two-yard line and Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo completed the touchdown pass and the two-point convert to S.J. Green to tie it up.

Montreal had first possession for the second round of overtime but could only manage a field goal.

Durant then needed just two plays to complete the comeback.

"He did what he needed to do," Dressler said of his quarterback. "He found the open receivers across the board. That's what we need from him ... and that's what we can expect from him."

The Alouettes looked rusty early in the 2009 Grey Cup rematch, as Calvillo was intercepted by Lance Frazier on the first play of the game and was sacked for a loss by Kitwana Jones to start Montreal's next possession.

Then Calvillo went to work.

He threw touchdown passes of 39 and 33 yards to Kerry Watkins, along with a 48-yard bomb for a touchdown to Green, and Montreal took a 24-10 lead into halftime.

Tim Maypray stretched the lead to 21 in the third quarter when he returned a missed field goal by Luca Congi 125 yards for a touchdown.

"It's going to reinforce the fact that we're never out of it," said Riders head coach Ken Miller. "They're going to believe in each other. Our offence is going to know that they can score points. And our defence is going to know that our offence can score points."

Several Roughriders admitted in the build-up to Thursday's game that they were looking for even a small measure of revenge for last year's championship game, which they lost 28-27 to Montreal on a last-second field goal by Damon Duval.

Saskatchewan thought it had won when Duval missed a 43-yard attempt, but the Riders were flagged for too many men on the field and Duval nailed his second effort from 33 yards for the win.

With the win Saskatchewan (1-0) begins the 2010 season right where it ended 2009 -- atop the West Division standings.

"In retrospect, that's something that we just have to get cleaned up," Miller said of the deja vu brought on by Thursday's penalty. "We can't keep going on with that kind of a situation so we'll take care of that. We'll make sure we can count to 13, make sure when we transition people that we have the right people on the field, but at that time it was just something we had to deal with.

"Excellence is overcoming adversity. That was adversity."

Montreal also scored points on a Duval field goal, a safety conceded by Sakoda, and a fourth-quarter touchdown run from Cobourne.

Calvillo finished the game with 28 completions on 42 attempts for 368 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

"There's no moral victories here. There was an ebb and flow to the game. We all know it's a 60-minute game here and even more than that tonight and ... the Riders deserved the win," said Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman.

A second-quarter touchdown run by Durant and a 17-yard Congi field goal rounded out Saskatchewan's scoring.

Durant completed 30 of his 44 passes for 478 yards with five touchdowns and no picks.

Dressler led all receivers in the game with 10 catches for 154 yards.

Saskatchewan's next game is July 10 when they travel to Vancouver to face the B.C. Lions. Montreal will play its second of three straight road games to start the year July 11 against the Edmonton Eskimos.

NOTES: Alouettes receiver Ben Cahoon caught a pass for the 128th consecutive game, leaving him nine back of Tony Gabriel for second on the all-time list ... Riders linebacker Tad Kornegay was on the receiving end of a punishing block by Als slotback Jamel Richardson in the second quarter and struggled to get up but recovered in time for the next play ... A moment of silence was held before the game for former Roughriders defensive lineman and Canadian Football Hall of Famer Ron Atchison. Atchison played for Saskatchewan from 1952-68 and his No. 41 was also painted onto the field at the 41-yard lines.