EDMONTON - Matt Nichols threw two touchdown passes as the Edmonton Eskimos won their fourth in a row with a 30-5 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday.

The Eskimos (4-1) now sit in sole possession of first place in the Canadian Football League's West Division and have not allowed a touchdown in two straight games.

The loss kept Saskatchewan winless at 0-6.

Edmonton got off to a good start with a long and competent opening drive, capped off by a 27-yard TD pass from Nichols to Kenny Stafford. Nichols is the only remaining undefeated starting quarterback in the CFL this season.

The Eskimos added a 31-yard Grant Shaw field goal to lead 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Riders closed the score to 10-4 at the half with a punt single and a 34-yard field goal by Paul McCallum.

Saskatchewan's third-string quarterback Brett Smith finished the game completing 15 of 22 pass attempts for 132 yards and two interceptions.

The Roughriders recorded another punt single early in the third quarter before Edmonton responded with a 44-yard Shaw field goal.

The Eskimos found the end zone again with five minutes to play in the third, after Smith was picked off by Pat Watkins, who took the ball back 46 yards for a touchdown.

Smith was intercepted again by JC Sherritt on the next series, leading to a 14-yard field goal by Shaw to make it 23-5 for Edmonton.

The Eskimos continued to control the game six minutes into the fourth as a nice 31-yard pass and run by Shakir Bell set up a nine-yard passing TD from Nichols to Kendial Lawrence.

Edmonton is on the road for its next two games, heading to B.C. to face the Lions next Thursday. The Riders are next in Toronto to tackle the Argonauts the following Saturday.

Notes: Smith was making his first career CFL start at quarterback with Darian Durant out for the season and Kevin Glenn on the six-game injured list with a torn pectoral muscle. The 22-year-old rookie signed with Saskatchewan in the off-season following a college career at Wyoming… The Eskimos came into the contest having won their last four regular season home games by a combined score of 156-32… Turnovers have been prevalent in Eskimos games to this point, averaging 6.8 per game. In the other CFL games to date, the average is only 3.8.