Even Nathan Rourke gets tongue-tied. The B.C. Lions quarterback met a childhood idol on Saturday when his team added 2006 Grey Cup MVP Travis Lulay to its wall of fame. When the pair were introduced, Rourke started to call the Lions legend Travis but decided in the moment Mr. Lulay might be more appropriate. “Then I came out somewhere in the middle,” he said with a smile. “I told him I hope that we can chat sometime and just kind of pick his brain a little bit.” Meeting Lulay has long been a dream for the Canadian quarterback. “When I was young, and I watched the Lions, he was the quarterback. And so he’s the quarterback for the Lions for me,” Rourke said. “Everyone has their era … who’s the identity of their team and who’s their quarterback of their era, and Travis was that for me growing up. So it was pretty cool to see, and I hope to be in that position at some point down the road.” Rourke put on yet another performance Saturday that could help cement his position in Lions’ lore. The 28-year-old amassed a combined 394 yards, throwing for 317 with a touchdown and powering the Lions to a 48-29 victory over the Montreal Alouettes. He added 77 yards on the ground and a rushing major as B.C. (7-6) split a home-and-home series with the CFL powerhouse. B.C. jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, only to see the visitors rally and get the game to within four points late in the first half. The Lions showed resilience, Rourke said. “I’ve just been really impressed with that,” he said. “This team, we’ve had a lot of adversity this year. The way we’ve responded to it, I’ve been really proud of.” Davis Alexander threw for 242 yards for the Alouettes (10-3) with two TDs and an interception. “He’s a heck of a player,” Lions head coach Buck Pierce said of Montreal’s starter. “He plays with fire. He plays tough. We did a good job of being able to stop some of that momentum that he’s able to create.” The Lions opened the scoring Saturday with a 35-yard field goal from Sean Whyte early in the opening frame, then boosted their lead following a successful challenge. Tyrice Beverette swooped in to collect Rourke’s pass in the end zone, and it looked like the visitors had made good on the interception. Pierce challenged the play and, after review, officials ruled Lorenzo Burns had interfered with the pass, putting B.C. at the one-yard line. Running back Zander Horvath capitalized, plunging in and Whyte’s convert gave the home side a 10-0 lead. Seconds into the second quarter, Alexander tried to get a pass off before he was pulled down from behind, but defensive tackle Casey Sayles nabbed the ball and sprinted in for another TD that put the Lions up 17-0. The interception ended a streak in which the Als QB went 108 attempts without getting picked off. Montreal responded with a big drive, capped by Alexander’s 26-yard toss to Tyson Philpott in the end zone to put the visitors on the scoreboard. It didn’t take the Alouettes long to further chip away at the deficit. Beverette snuck around B.C.’s offensive line and hauled Rourke to the turf. Mustafa Johnson collected the loose ball and ran it in for another TD. Maltos Diaz missed the convert, but the Lions’ lead dwindled to four points. The two sides then traded seven-point scores, with Rourke finding Keon Hatcher Sr. in the end zone under pressure before Alexander sent Tyler Snead a deep ball to make it 24-20 for B.C. Action continued on both ends of the field in the dying seconds of the first half. With 35 seconds left in the quarter, Rourke kept the ball himself after a snap and darted down the field, getting the ball to the corner marker for a touchdown before being forced out of bounds. Whyte’s convert put B.C. up 31-20. “We responded when we needed to respond, I thought,” Pierce said. “Especially in the first half when you look at some of the field position we started with offensively and what they started with as well. We were able to keep pace, still get the ball in the red zone, and then finish drives in the end zone.” A string of penalties on Montreal’s next possession made for choppy play, but the Als persisted and, with five seconds to go in the half, Maltos Diaz put a 25-yard kick through the uprights to make it 31-23 heading into the locker rooms. Both sides struggled to capture momentum in the second half, but Montreal took another bite out of B.C.’s lead midway through the third with a 33-yard field goal from Maltos Diaz. The Lions broke through the stalemate midway through the frame when Horvath muscled his way through traffic for his second TD of the night. Montreal lost a key piece on the ensuing kickoff return when receiver Devonte Dedmon was upended and suffered an apparent leg injury in the process. After being examined on the field, he was taken away on a cart. Horvath struck again with less than five minutes to go in the game, diving across the goal line for his third touchdown of the game and 16th on the ground this season. The 27-year-old American has also reeled in two receiving majors. “I think he’s probably scored too many touchdowns at this point. Let’s give it to somebody else, give someone else a chance to score,” Rourke said with a grin. “But, yeah, he’s done a fantastic job answering the bell when we needed him in a lot of different ways and certainly been a huge addition to the offence in terms of all the carries that he’s gotten this year.” Montreal answered with a 50-yard field goal from Maltos Diaz before Whyte sealed the game at 48-29 with a 42-yard kick through the uprights. The Lions hope they haven’t seen the last of the Alouettes this season, Rourke said. “We recognize that they’re a very good team, we believe we’re a good team, and I think the competitive juices definitely were flowing (tonight),” the quarterback said. “Feels good to get this one for sure, and I’m sure if we want to get to where we want to get to and be champs at the end of this year, we’re gonna have to go through them again. So we look forward to that.” UP NEXT Alouettes: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-9) on Friday. Lions: Have a week off before hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-5) on Friday, Sept. 25. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2026. Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
