TORONTO – It took a few more swings of the axe than needed, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers eventually felled a giant demon here in the Big Smoke.

Still healing from the emotional and physical scars from last week’s loss to the B.C. Lions, the Bombers pushed the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts all over their own backyard in a 38-20 win Saturday afternoon in front of just 10,844 at BMO Field.

But it surely didn’t come as easily as it could have, as the Bombers also gifted 19 points off three turnovers – including 11 points off two mistakes in the final minute of the first half – to an Argos side that was comatose for much of the afternoon.

The win improves Winnipeg to 3-3 and keeps them in the West Division mix, while the Argos fall to 1-4.

“We talked about it all week; you’ve got to respond after an awful collapse last week,” said quarterback Matt Nichols. “I talked to all the guys on our team about it, mentioned it in the media… sometimes a game like last week can be a turning point in your season.

“You go one of two ways after a game like that and it would have been easy for everyone to feel sorry for themselves. But we have the veteran guys here that understood this is an urgency game for us and we came out and played like it on all three phases – obviously, we’d love to not give them two freebies on a couple turnovers, but aside from that I thought we played a great team game.”

The Bombers got huge offensive performances from Andrew Harris, who eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the third consecutive game and Nichols – who was a steady 19 of 27 for 245 yards and two scores.

The 161 yards along the ground established a new career high for Harris, besting his previous mark of 147 set in 2012 as a member of the B.C. Lions. Not surprisingly, Harris was bemoaning a second quarter fumble that led to an Argos field goal.

“It feels great,” he said. “The biggest thing about this game is I’m going to be looking back at that fumble. Those five-six guys up front (on the O-line) are doing an amazing job and there are times where I have my head down and am pumping my legs and they’re carrying me for an extra three-four-five-six yards sometimes.

“They’re dogs, they’re intense. I lean on them so much and the continuity and chemistry we have is great. I’m honestly so proud of them.”

Asked afterward to rank Harris among the great players he played with or coached, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was effusive in his praise of No. 33.

“Ranking them, that’s really tough… but man, I would have loved to have played with him. I would have loved to have played with him.

“I would have been fired up on the sidelines every time he got the ball. I would have been begging the offensive coaches to just give it to Andrew and I think I would have been cheering every time he scored or was running somebody over.”

“He can do it all. I think it’s hard to really appreciate what he does if you’re not in our building. He’s very, very intelligent and he makes people around him better. He thinks of himself as an O-lineman when it’s pass, he thinks of himself as a receiver when he’s running routes and as a tailback… when he carries the ball it’s like he wants to serve the O-line for their effort.”

What shouldn’t be lost in all this is the work of the men on the defensive side of the ball. The Bombers held an opponent to 20 points or less for the third straight week, limited the Argos to just 165 yards net offence, forced four turnovers, registered two sacks and – get this – held Toronto running back James Wilder, Jr. to minus two yards on three carries.

“They played pretty well, obviously,” said O’Shea. “I thought Richie, JY, Glenn and James (defensive coaches Richie Hall, Jordan Younger, Glenn Young and James Stanley) did a great job preparing the guys. It really is a credit to the amount of work the players put in to make sure they were communicating at a really high level because we’ve got some young guys in there that sometimes need a little coaxing one way or another.”

The Bombers got receiving touchdowns from Darvin Adams and Harris – he continues to lead the CFL in TDs, with seven in six games – plus a Nichols one-yard rushing score.

Winnipeg also gifted TDs on a Kevin Fogg punt-return fumble that was returned for a major and a Nic Demski fumble that was also taken to the house.

But after giving up a 25-1 lead with 11 points off turnovers just before the intermission, the Bombers answered with a two-and-out stop by the defence to open the second half, followed by a seven-play 52-yard scoring drive capped by the Nichols sneak.

And that was a massive sequence given the unravelling of a week ago.

“We could have come out and had the second half go completely differently the way we ended the first half,” said Nichols. “They ended up with 11 points over a 50-second span. For a second you’re feeling like you’re going into halftime at 25-1 and it ends up being a two-touchdown game.

“We knew we needed to come out and respond. The defence did a great job of getting us the ball back right away, the offence went down and scored. That was great to see the guys come out and respond the way the first half ended, for sure.”

THE BIG STAT

161: Yards rushing by Andrew Harris, establishing a new career high. He also chipped in with two catches for 16 yards and a TD.

FYI

The Bombers two inactives were OL Manase Foketi and CB Chris Randle, who was a late scratch. The move with Randle meant that Kevin Fogg and Tyneil Cooper started at corner, with Marcus Sayles and Brandon Alexander at halfback. The changes resulted in the fifth different combination of personnel in six games. That unit limited James Franklin & Co. to just 151 yards passing.

NUMBERS GAME

Minus 2: Yards rushing by Argos RB James Wilder, JR. Toronto finished with just 22 yards along the ground.

409: Yards rushing by Andrew Harris in the last three games.

420: Offensive yards piled up by the Bombers attack, with an average of seven yards per play.

3.5: Average gain per play by the Argos offence.

34:44: Time of possession for the Bombers.