Stampeders trample hapless Blue Bombers

Nik Lewis had a feeling he was going to have a milestone performance on Friday night.

The veteran slotback did just that as he caught seven passes for 131 yards as his Calgary Stampeders trounced the lowly Winnipeg Blue Bombers 44-3.

Lewis caught his 700th CFL pass and eclipsed the 10,000 mark in career receiving yards on the same play during the second quarter of the onslaught.

"I felt great when I woke up this morning," said Lewis. "I wanted to do it here in Calgary because that's where I've been my whole career."

Lewis became only the second player in club history to reach the 10,000-yard plateau. Former slotback Allen Pitts, a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, is the other.

With his performance, Lewis moved past Travis Moore and former Calgary teammate Jeremaine Copeland into 15th spot on the CFL all-time receiving list with 10,054 yards.

"The student passes the teacher," Lewis said. "I owe a lot to Cope because without him I'm probably not still a Calgary Stampeder or getting 10,000 yards. He did a lot to help my career and help me grow."

Meanwhile, Jon Cornish continued his strong season, running for a pair of touchdowns in the convincing win.

"I think we have a lot of weapons and tonight it really showed," Cornish said.

Calgary backup quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed his first CFL touchdown pass to Rob Cote on a trick play in the first quarter, while Johnny Forzani caught a TD strike from starter Kevin Glenn in the fourth.

LaMarcus Coker also had a rushing touchdown, while Rene Paredes added a pair of field goals for the Stamps (7-4), who have won four straight games and five of their past six.

It was also a milestone night for Glenn, who moved past Dieter Brock into 12th spot on the CFL all-time passing list. After completing 17-of-23 passes for 298 yards, Glenn has now has 35,025 career passing yards.

"When it was brought to my attention yesterday I felt good about it," Glenn said. "It's one of those things that you feel like you've accomplished something, especially passing a guy like Dieter Brock too, but I'm not finished. I want to get up there. I want to break the top five."

Justin Palardy kicked an 11-yard field goal in the third quarter to account for Winnipeg's only points. The Bombers (2-9) have lost four straight games.

Struggles at McMahon

"Nothing went right apparently," said Winnipeg defensive lineman Jason Vega. "Defensively we couldn't get anything going. There were times we did things right and then there were other times we couldn't do a thing right, so I don't know."

With the setback, the Bombers' woes at McMahon Stadium continued. Winnipeg hasn't won in Calgary since 2002, a span of 10 games, is dismal 0-6 on the road this season and just is 1-6 against the West Division.

"As a team we know we're going to get adversity," said Winnipeg coach Tim Burke, who fell to 0-3 since replacing the fired Paul LaPolice. "We just have to embrace that and realize we've got to have the poise and confidence to overcome the adversity instead of hanging our heads when something bad happens to us."

Lewis caught a short pass from Glenn on Calgary's first drive and broke a tackle before running for a 56-yard gain to put the Stamps into Winnipeg territory.

Two plays later, Paredes lined up to kick a 33-yard field goal, but instead Mitchell flipped a pass to Cote, who ran in for a 26-yard touchdown to cap off the successful trick play.

"Not the way I pictured it," said Mitchell, who was nonetheless pleased to get credit for his first CFL touchdown pass. "I pictured the 70-yard deep throw.

"It's a great thing to get the first touchdown pass. Obviously it was more the blocking and Rob Cote making a great play and really just a great coaching call to come out that early in the game and kind of surprise a fake field goal like that."

The Stamps added three more points on a safety and a 51-yard punt single by Rob Maver to build up a 10-0 lead after one quarter.

At 9:51 of the second quarter, Cornish scampered for an 18-yard touchdown and then added a three-yard dash into the end zone with 36 seconds left in the half.

Paredes kicked a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter and added a 14-yarder in the third.

In the final quarter, Forzani caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Glenn before Coker ran for a 52-yard TD to round out the scoring.