Running back Wes Cates (left), and his quarterback Darian Durant, combined for 596 yards of offence on the way to a Saskatchewan victory Saturday night. (Troy Fleece/Canadian Press)

After having some fun with the prairie fans most of Saturday night, Mother Nature decided to smile on the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The result was a sun shower, a beautiful rainbow and a comeback 41-33 victory by the home side over the Montreal Alouettes in a game that was every bit as entertaining as pre-game hype said it would be.

Once it got underway, that is, as a classic Prairie thunderstorm dumped so much rain and flashed so much lightning around Regina it caused the opening kickoff to be delayed by 50 minute.

But when nature stepped aside, the fans got a classic.

Back-up quarterback Darian Durant's one-yard plunge, and a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, gave the Riders a win that improved the Grey Cup champs to 4-0 on the season and 12-1 going back to last fall.

Montreal fell to 2-2.

Durant, appearing in his third game in place of injured starter Marcus Crandell, was handed a golden opportunity when Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo threw a tipped ball for an interception deep in his own zone as he tried to protect a two-point Als' lead in the dying minutes.

A 19-yard scamper by running back Wes Cates, who had an outstanding all-purpose night (195 yards, including 107 on the ground), put the ball on the Montreal one yard line, and Saskatchewan's young pivot (who threw for 349 yards on the evening) took over from there.

Als had a chance

Calvillo, who tossed for 352 yards of his own, seemed to have his club in position to win, thanks to some hard work down the stretch.

With six minutes to go, he started a march downfield that culminated in a toss to Ben Cahoon for the latter's 56th career touchdown, making it 33-25 for the visitors.

That's when the rainbow came out and Durant took over, first creating an attack that eventually found Matt Dominguez in the end zone, where the receiver battled for possession with defender Mark Estelle.

After rolling around, Estelle came up with the ball, but the officials said when they hit the ground it was a tie, and the tie goes to the receiver.

That brought the Riders within two, and they went for a two-point convert that was unsuccessful.

It was on the second play after the kickoff that Calvillo's pass was tipped, starting the short winning drive.

Any chance the Als had to pull this one off disappeared when Jason Armistead fumbled the ensuring kickoff, setting up a field goal by Luca Congi (his fourth of the night) for the final points.

Game opened up

Saskatchewan led 15-10 to start the second half but it was the Alouettes who earned the first breaks.

Durant was picked off again in the opening minutes, giving Montreal the ball inside Rider territory, starting a drive that ended when Calvillo tossed a beautiful lead pass to Jamal Richardson in the end zone that the 6-3 receiver caught with his finger tips to give the Als a two point margin.

Back came Durant, moving his offence to the Montreal one-yard line where he hit running back Neal Hughes with a little dumper and the Riders had the lead again at 22-17.

This game was now looking like a classic CFL offensive clash, as Calvillo started his club on an eight-play, 87-yard drive that ate up five minutes of clock and finished with an eight-yard strike to Avon Cobourne who had found a seam between linebackers — 24-22 Montreal.

Riders earn the halftime lead

Leading 2-0, Durant threw his first interception of the season in the opening quarter, courtesy of former Rider Reggie Hunt.

The linebacker's pick set up a drive by the Alouettes that ended in a 32-yard pass-and-run touchdown from Calvillo to receiver Kerry Watkins for a 7-2 lead, despite Saskatchewan's domination of time of possession and yards in the first 15 minutes.

However, Durant began seeing results for his hard work, and when he hit Andy Fantuz down the middle on a play that brought the Riders inside the Montreal 20, ending the quarter, things appeared to be turning around.

But the drive stalled there and Saskatchewan settled for a Congi field goal.

Trading a pair of field goals from there, the score stood at 10-8 Montreal late in the half when Durant found Cates on a nice dump pass that set up a drive the pair ended with a 25-yard touchdown reception, sending the Riders to the half up 15-10.