EDMONTON — Mike Reilly threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran in another as the Edmonton Eskimos survived a late scare to come away with a 33-25 victory over the struggling Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday.

It was the Eskimos' third win in a row, upping their record to 5-4.

Saskatchewan fell to 1-8 on the season with its fifth consecutive loss.

Edmonton started the game with a 36-yard field goal by Sean Whyte on its opening possession and was even more impressive on its second drive, as a 42-yard run by Shakir Bell set up a terrific 31-yard touchdown pass from Reilly to Derel Walker.

The Eskimos made it 17-0 with three minutes to play in the first quarter as Reilly found Bell for a 15-yard TD pass.

Edmonton looked to extend its lead even further midway through the second, but Reilly was picked off in the Saskatchewan end zone by Ed Gainey.

The Esks added a safety when Deon Lacey sacked Riders QB Darian Durant in the end zone and another Whyte field goal before Saskatchewan finally got on the board with a Tyler Crapigna field goal to make it 22-3 at the half.

The Riders looked better to start the third, getting a one-yard TD run from Durant off of a long drive, their first touchdown in more than two games worth of playing time. They would go on to sack Reilly in the end zone to cut the Edmonton lead to 10 points.

Durant ran in his second one-yard TD of the game on the final play of the third quarter to make it 22-19.

The Eskimos finally woke back up to start the fourth, getting a seven-yard TD run from Reilly on a dive across the goal line.

Whyte kicked his third field goal of the game before the Riders came roaring back with a five-yard TD pass from Durant to Kendial Lawrence. The convert kick hit the uprights to keep Edmonton up by seven.

The Eskimos defence was able to force a turnover on downs and got a late punt single to put the game away.

The Riders return home to face Winnipeg on Sunday, Sept. 4, while the Eskimos travel to Calgary for the annual Labour Day Classic on Monday, Sept. 5.

Notes: Edmonton won the only previous meeting between the two teams, a 39-36 thriller on July 8… Bell played his first game of the season as he replaced John White as the Eskimos starting running back after White suffered a hand injury against Toronto last week… The crowd of 37,168 for the game at Commonwealth Stadium was the tops in the CFL this season.