TORONTO - Troy Smith's 37-yard TD strike to Arland Bruce III with 2:47 remaining rallied the Montreal Alouettes to a 23-20 win over a short-handed Toronto Argonauts squad Friday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Smith finished with three TD strikes but Montreal's offence struggled to mount a consistent attack against the Argos. However, the unit needed just three plays to go 71 yards for the go-ahead TD before Smith ran in for the two-point convert to put Montreal ahead by three points before a Rogers Centre gathering of 22,589.

Toronto was poised to get the ball back with just over a minute remaining but Hugo Lopez was flagged for hitting Montreal punter Burke Dales, allowing the Alouettes to maintain possession and run out the clock.

The game had no bearing on the East Division standings as Toronto (11-7) had cemented top spot to secure home-field advantage for the conference final Nov. 17. Montreal (8-10) was already assured of finishing third and will face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — who visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday — in semifinal action next weekend in Guelph, Ont.

So the Als and Argos took vastly different approaches to the contest. Montreal, looking to establish much-needed momentum heading into the playoffs, went with all of its starters while Toronto sat out 17 of its regulars, including quarterback Ricky Ray as backups Zach Collaros, Trevor Harris and Mitchell Gale all took snaps.

But it was Toronto that consistently won the field-position battle and led 19-15 on a conceded safety to start the fourth. Harris erased the Argos' 15-11 half-time deficit with an 11-yard TD strike to Darvin Adams at 7:18 of the third although the convert was blocked.

Toronto was attempting to secure 12 wins in a season for the first time since 1997 when it won 15 games en route to the first of two straight Grey Cup titles under head coach Don Matthews.

Matt Black had Toronto's other touchdown. Rookie Quinn Sharp had a tough CFL debut, hitting one-of-two converts and one-of-three field goals with two singles.

Duron Carter and Bo Bowling scored Montreal's touchdowns. Sean Whyte booted two converts and a single.

Smith's two second-quarter TD strikes rallied Montreal to a 15-11 half-time advantage. Smith hit Carter, the son of Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter, on a 71-yard touchdown pass at 2:07 to cut Toronto's lead to 10-7 at 2:07 before Nicolas Boulay recovered Toronto's fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

Smith then found Bowling from two yards out at 5:19 to put Montreal ahead 14-10. Whyte, whose miss from 42 yards out was returned 107 yards for the winning TD in last weekend's 27-24 loss to Hamilton, missed from 39 yards at 12:25 for the single.

Toronto opened the scoring with Black returning a Smith interception 62 yards for the touchdown at 4:26 of the first. After plunking his first attempt from 28 yards out off the cross bar, Sharp connected from 42 yards out at 13:18 to put the Argos ahead 10-0.

NOTES: Priot to the game, former CFL star quarterback Russ Jackson helped swear in approximately 100 new Canadians . . . Cox registered his club-record 111th tackle of the season with a sack on Toronto's opening possession . . . Running back Chad Kackert, linebacker Jason Pottinger, centre Jeff Keeping and receiver Romby Bryant were Toronto's four pre-game scratches. Among the Argos regulars who didn't dress were slotback Andre Durie and linebacker Robert McCune. Durie will finish 14 yards shy of his first career 1,000-yard season while McCune ended up one tackle short of 100 . . . The Alouettes have qualified for the CFL playoffs in 18 straight years, the league's longest current streak. Toronto is in the post-season for the third time in four seasons . . . Ray is just two completions short of becoming the most accurate passer in CFL history. Calgary offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson holds that distinction at 67.534 per cent while Ray is at 67.524 per cent.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013