Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant almost brought his club back for a win on Sunday, but the effort fell short. (Geoff Howe/Canadian Press)    There was nothing new under the leaden prairie sky Sunday afternoon as the Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders put on yet another Western Conference CFL classic.

This barn burner was taken by the Eskies, 31-27, thanks to a 68-yard pass-and-run touchdown from Ricky Ray to Maurice Mann with just over a minute to go.

A frantic final-seconds drive headed by Darian Durant came for naught when a desperation fling into the end zone was too high for Chris Getzlaf, who was then knocked down by defender Elliott Richardson.

It created a three-way tie for first in the West — Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Calgary are all 6-5 on the season.

Ray, who had started the game 20-for-20 but saw a lead he built disappear in the fourth quarter, began the winning drive from his own 22, down three points and with 1:37 on the clock.

After a pass to Fred Stamps for 16 yards, and a four-yarder to the sidelines, Ray spotted Mann wide open behind the defenders.

Overall, Ray was 25-of-34 for 315 yards and two touchdowns as the Eskimos rolled up 410 yards of offence under new co-ordinator Kevin Strasser, who replaced Rick Worman two weeks ago.

"We did a lot of shorter passes, but we were in good position the whole half," said Ray.

"We ran the ball great. We didn't have to really pick up lots of yardage. I was just trying to get the ball out quick. They have a good front four that can get a lot of pressure and we just tried to frustrate them and get the ball out quick and keep them off balance."

Durant also strong

Durant tossed 23 completions for 234 yards, a touchdown and was not intercepted.

Just a week after Edmonton had thrown a game away to Calgary with a poor fourth quarter, Durant looked like he was going to stab them again, scoring 10 straight points and putting his club up three.

He ran a nine-play, 98-yard drive to end the third and open the final frame, starting deep in his own zone and finishing with a screen off a misdirection to Getzlaf.

The receiver rumbled 22 yards for a touchdown that tied the game 24-24.

Fortunate placement

A third-down, fake punt by Jamie Boreham kept a drive alive and eventually sent the Riders deep into the Edmonton zone.

A toss into the end zone was intercepted by Jason Goss, but it was waived off for being out of bounds. Television showed the Eskimos might have had an argument but they chose not to toss the replay flag.

Luca Congi kicked a field goal to put Saskatchewan up for the first time in the game, 27-24.

Long fumble return

Edmonton led 21-10 after the first half and looked ready to wrap it up early when, sitting on the Saskatchewan two, Ray handed off to Arkee Whitlock.

He was stripped of the ball and defender Omarr Morgan picked it up and took off 108 yards the other way, a CFL record for a fumble recovery touchdown.

"You don't care about no record. You want to win the game," said Morgan, who jumped the short route on Mann's touchdown. "Records are meant to be broken and whatever else, but you just want to win the game."

That fumble and touchdown closed the game to 21-17 at that point.