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CFL's top-five on-field moments

Whether it's a diminutive punt returner weaving his way through the imposing figures of an opposing team or a quarterback finding a receiver in the end zone with no time left on the clock, there's always a few highlight-reel plays to choose from in the Canadian Football League. Here are five that caught our eyes.

Even without seven starters, the Saskatchewan Roughriders gave the Hamilton Tiger-Cats more than they could handle in a 32-13 victory on July 17.

Trailing 25-13 with five minutes remaining, Ticats quarterback Danny McManus tried to march his squad down the field, but McManus overthrew a pass intended for Craig Yeast that landed in the arms of Omarr Morgan.

The Roughriders' defensive back returned the ball 46 yards before tossing a lateral to teammate Davin Bush, who ran the ball the remaining 59 yards into the end zone.

The 105-yard interception return sent the fans at Regina's Taylor Field into a frenzy.

"Davin's the fastest player on the field," said Morgan. "When you get the ball in his hands, you might as well strike up the band. It's a touchdown."

Toronto Argonauts kick-return specialist Bashir Levingston is always begging coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons to get him more involved in the team's offence.

But when he returns kicks the way he does, it's hard for Clemons pull him out of the special teams rotation.

Levingston ran back two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the Calgary Stampeders to cap a 25-16 come-from-behind win on Aug. 24 at Toronto's Rogers Centre.

After Calgary closed the game to within two points, Levingston put the game away with a 111-yard missed field goal return for a major with nine seconds left on the clock.

Levingston picked up the ball, ran across the back of the Toronto end zone and sprinted down the sideline to give him a season-high 345 all-purpose yards and the Argos a temporary hold on first place in the East Division.

Earlier in the quarter, Levingston hit pay dirt on a 109-yard punt return to put Toronto ahead by eight points.

The Argos won five of their next nine games to earn their first division regular-season title since 1997.

It's no surprise one of the most offensively-charged games of the 2005 season ended in unbelievable fashion, especially since two of the league's top two teams were involved.

In an Oct. 16 contest in Vancouver between the Montreal and British Columbia, the Alouettes came up with the play of the game just in the nick of time.

The Lions shifted the game's momentum in their favour when running back Antonio Warren scored his second touchdown of the game with 45 seconds left. The Lions then connected on a two-point conversion and collected a huge single on the ensuing kickoff to take a 44-40 lead.

But no team can rest on its laurels when Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo is at the helm.

Calvillo marched Montreal up the pitch with a seven-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a stellar pass to Dave Stala in the end zone with no time left on the clock for a 46-44 victory.

"When we got out there, we had 44 seconds left and we said to ourselves – get our first downs and we know we can score," said Stala, a third-year Alouette.

"We believed in each other and got the job done."

Milt Stegall, one of the CFL's most prolific receivers, had one of the biggest games of his career on Oct. 10.

Stegall hauled in four catches for 234 yards and four touchdowns in leading the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 44-23 upset victory over the B.C. Lions.

Winnipeg had lost four of its previous five games coming into the contest, but Stegall, an 11-year veteran, took matters into his own hands against the Lions, so to speak.

Stegall pulled in touchdown passes of 10, 54, 69 and 101 yards.

"The guy amazes me," said CFL on CBC analyst Darren Flutie of Stegall. "He had 234 yards receiving and is one of the most feared receivers in the league."

Stegall finished the year with 52 catches for 1,184 yards and led the league with a whopping 22.8 yards per catch and 17 touchdown receptions.

Along the way, he established a new CFL record for career touchdown receptions with 126.

Tony (Tiny) Tompkins's lone kickoff return for a touchdown in 2005 was a memorable one for the Edmonton Eskimos rookie, but it was definitely one the B.C. Lions would like to forget.

With the Eskimos leading 20-13 in the fourth quarter of the Sept. 24 contest, Lions fullback Jason Gavadza hauled in a four-yard pass to even matters with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation.

But Tompkins answered with an 85-yard dash for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff to start a 17-point run by the hometown Eskimos, who prevailed 37-20 at Commonwealth Stadium, putting an end to the Lions' 11-game win streak to start the season.