Spotting any team a 24-point first quarter lead is a recipe for disaster, but doing it against the undefeated Calgary Stampeders is an even worse idea.

Despite their horrible first quarter, the Saskatchewan Roughriders battled their way back to make it a game against the Stampeders before falling 34-22 at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium on Saturday.

"It was a show of character to be down that big, that's the one positive that comes out of this is that our guys have a good belief system and they kept on fighting, they kept on scratching and made it a competitive game," said Riders head coach Chris Jones after the game.

Saskatchewan entered the game looking to prove that they belonged in the conversation with the Stampeders, but the first quarter showed that was anything but the case.

The rest of the contest was a different case as the Riders defence forced the Stamps into two turnovers and made it a five-point game in the third quarter.

"When it comes down to it, it was only the first quarter and you've just got to keep chipping away at the lead and that's what we did," said Riders defensive end Charleston Hughes after the game. "I'm proud of my team for doing that much and putting ourselves in position to comeback and win the game."

Hughes finished with two sacks against his former team, giving him a CFL-leading eight sacks through six games this season. Willie Jefferson led the Riders with eight sacks last season.

"That felt pretty good, I'm pretty proud of my performance out there and what I did individually, but when it comes down to it, it wasn't enough to win the game, so it don't matter," said Hughes.

"We put up a good fight, we did what we had to do as a defence and the offence did what they had to do to put points on the board, it's just the little things that we've got to clean up on."

In the first quarter, Rider Nation was left shellshocked as Calgary pounced on every mistake the Riders made throughout the quarter.

Running back Marcus Thigpen fumbled to end the Riders' first possession of the game and one play later, Calgary quarterback Bo-Levi Mitchell found Marken Michel for a 41-yard touchdown.

Calgary tacked on a 52-yard field goal from Rene Paredes, which was quickly followed up by a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown by Terry Williams.

The Stampeders finished off the onslaught when Mitchell connected with Eric Rogers for a 15-yard touchdown following a Jerome Messam fumble.

The Riders' offence never found its footing in the game, but Saskatchewan did find a way to get back into the game.

The leg of kicker Brett Lauther played a huge part as he went 5-for-5 on field goal attempts, including nailing a 56-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

"I'm trying to hit everything that I'm asked to do and actually kick from distances that pro kicker should be kicking in this league, but I'm just happy it went through the uprights and could put three points on the board," said Lauther, who is now 18-for-20 on field goals this season.

Defensive lineman Tobi Antigha has been turning into a weapon for the Riders and he showed his versatility again in the second quarter as he intercepted Mitchell and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown, which helped Saskatchewan cut Calgary’s lead to 24-13 at halftime.

Antigha, who played receiver in college before being converted to defence last season, said that he tries to bring his offensive skills to defence.

"Playing receiver, you kind of understand route concepts, so you can kind of anticipate where the throws are going to go and if you can anticipate, you're always going to be in position to make a play," said Antigha. "That's kind of what happened tonight, I broke on a corner before the receiver broke on a corner and that put me in a better position to make a play on the ball."

The second half saw the Riders’ offence continue to sputter throughout the frame as they settled for two Lauther field goals early in the third quarter. That did cut Calgary's lead to five, but saw Saskatchewan miss opportunities deep in Stampeders' territory.

Quarterback Brandon Bridge finished the game 19-of-29 for 147 yards, while Saskatchewan chose to run the ball in many passing situations throughout the game.

"It's obviously devastating, it's definitely a hurtful loss, the first quarter, we shot ourselves in the foot, we can't turnover, especially against a team like that," said Bridge.

The Mosaic Stadium faithful weren't happy with the play calling, raining down boos on the offence after a second-and-seven run play in the fourth quarter.

Jones said they don't plan on changing up the offensive play calling anytime soon.

"You better get use to it because we're going to do some more of it, I can tell Edmonton right now, we're going to run the football, we're going to throw screens and that's what we're going to do. We're going to get good at that and we're going to play great defence and special teams," said Jones.

"If you watch what Calgary does, they're running the ball, they're running quicks, they're running screens, they're not asking (their quarterbacks) to throw the ball downfield and they're the most successful team over the past half decade."

Tre Mason was the Riders' leading rusher with six carries for 37 yards, while Messam had five carries for 25 yards and Thigpen had a team-high ten carries for 23 yards.

Mitchell went 18-of-24 for 187 yards and three touchdowns in the win for Calgary.

The Riders held their running game in check with Romar Morris finishing with 12 carries for 41 yards.

The Riders are now 3-3 on the year. They have a quick turnaround to face the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday.

Riders Notes:

- Receiver Naaman Roosevelt left the game after landing on his head in the third quarter. He returned to the sidelines during the game, but no update was available after the game.

- Jones stated that he expects quarterback Zach Collaros to be ready to for following the Riders' bye week next week.