It hasn't been pretty, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders secured their sixth win in the past seven games and moved closer to locking up that coveted home playoff date on Sunday afternoon.

The Riders improved to 9-5 this season with a 34-29 win over the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. They now have a four-point lead on the Edmonton Eskimos for second place in the CFL’s West Division.

"The offensive line did a great job the entire day, our backs were able to pick up some yards and we made the opportunities in the pass game when we had to," said Quarterback Zach Collaros after the Riders' win.

Collaros surpassed the 300-yard barrier for the first time this season on Sunday, finishing 29-of-41 for 394 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the victory.

"I couldn't care less about 300-yard games, the arbitrary number of 300 means absolutely nothing, I just want to win games," said Collaros.

Saskatchewan is now 7-3 this season when Collaros starts at quarterback.

The Riders made plays when they needed them on offence and picked up stops when they needed them on defence throughout the game.

"(The Alouettes) were very opportunistic in what they got, as we said earlier in the week, they're a very well coached team, Coach Sherman has been around a lot of football and we, unfortunately, made errors that resulted in points for them and resulted in the game remaining close," said head coach Chris Jones.

The game started out back-and-forth with Antonio Pipkin opening the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run for the Alouettes, but the Riders answered right back as running back Tre Mason scampered 27 yards into the end zone to make it 7-7.

The Riders' next possession ended with Collaros throwing the ball up into the end zone and Kyran Moore coming down with a 23-yard touchdown. Brett Lauther missed the convert, giving the Riders a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.

Montreal wasted no time responding as Johnny Manziel connected with Adarius Bowman for a 47-yard touchdown to put the Alouettes up by one.

An 18-yard field goal from Boris Bede made it 17-13 for Montreal early in the second quarter.

The Riders found some life late in the quarter when Nick Marshall scored on a one-yard touchdown run and Collaros found receiver Jordan Williams-Lambert for the two-point convert to make it 21-17.

Lauther added a 35-yard field goal just 1:02 later to put the Riders in front by seven points heading into halftime.

Marshall's second one-yard touchdown plunge of the afternoon capped off the Riders' lengthy opening drive to the second half and made it 30-17 for Saskatchewan. Marshall has six rushing touchdowns this season to go along with two interception return touchdowns.

The Alouettes found a spark late in the third quarter when Stefan Logan returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown to cut the Riders' lead to eight points.

Then early in the fourth quarter, Manziel found Ernest Jackson for a 20-yard touchdown. The two-point convert was no good, so the Riders stayed in front 31-29 with 9:30 to play.

Lauther gave the Riders a bit of a cushion on their next drive with a 23-yard field goal and after a two-and-out from Montreal, the Riders put together a three-minute drive to end the game and seal the win.

Moore finished with nine catches for 126 yards and a touchdown, while Shaq Evans picked up six catches for 114 yards in the win. Mason ran for 86 yards on 13 carries.

All three players are rookies in the CFL and have come up big for the Riders this season. "They’re playing in some big football games, so that experience is definitely helping and we’re getting better every week," said Collaros.

Manziel threw his first touchdown in the CFL in the win, going 9-of-16 for 138 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran five times for a team-high 45 yards.

The Riders sit comfortably in second place in the West Division with a four-point lead on Winnipeg and Edmonton as they prepare to play four straight games against divisional opponents.

Jones said the Riders are finding ways to win at a key time in the season, "A lot has to do with the character and makeup of our football team, they believe in one and other, we're getting stronger physically and mentally down the stretch, so hopefully we can keep it rolling," he said.

The Riders host the Edmonton Eskimos coming up on Thanksgiving Monday at Mosaic Stadium.