EDMONTON — A single yard ended up costing the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday.

Adarius Bowman caught three touchdown passes as the Edmonton Eskimos came away with a 39-36 overtime victory over former head coach Chris Jones and the Roughriders.

The Eskimos won the game in the extra session as Sean Whyte kicked a field goal and the Riders were stopped just short on a third-and-one play during their possession with the ball in OT.

"We needed a little less than a yard. If you can't get a yard, you shouldn't be in this game. We didn't have a challenge flag to do anything about the spot," said Jones.

"We have to be able to get a yard. We have had four opportunities in the first two games where we have failed to do that."

Bowman ended the game with a 141 yards receiving. Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly went for 378 yards and four touchdowns while Saskatchewan's Darian Durant had 317 yards and four TD passes of his own.

The defending Grey Cup champion Eskimos are 1-1 on the season, while the Roughriders drop to 0-2. Both Edmonton games this season have needed overtime to determine the outcome.

"To have the first two games go into overtime, we talk about in this room about fight, fight, fight to the very end," said Edmonton coach Jason Maas, who recorded his first win as a head coach.

"We've done that two straight games. The last time we came up short, this time we pulled it our miraculously at the end. I couldn't be happier for the guys in that room. We fought to the end and I'm very excited to get the first W. We fight together and we pulled it out together."

Saskatchewan was successful on its first possession as Durant completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Rob Bagg.

Edmonton came close to tying the game on a long drive, however a pass by Reilly was intercepted in the end zone by Justin Cox.

The Roughriders added 38- and 39-yard field goals by Tyler Crapigna to lead 13-0 midway through the second quarter.

The Eskimos finally got their act together with five minutes left in the first half as Reilly connected with Bowman for a 56-yard TD catch.

Saskatchewan came right back as Ricky Collins showed great concentration to reel in a ball that had bounced off an Eskimos defender for a 13-yard touchdown. It was set up by a punt fumble recovery by Jeff Knox Jr. The convert failed.

Edmonton responded with a four-yard Reilly TD pass to Chris Getzlaf to cut the Riders' lead to 19-14 at the half.

Following a failed third-down gamble by the Riders on their own 30-yard line, Edmonton surged to its first lead on an unconverted four-yard TD run by John White.

After another turnover by Saskatchewan deep in its own territory, a punt fumble scooped up by Esk Kenny Ladler, Edmonton took a 28-19 lead to start the fourth quarter as Bowman caught a five-yard touchdown pass.

Reilly continued to pick apart the Saskatchewan secondary on his team's next possession, making a 68-yard pass to Cory Watson before tossing his third TD to Bowman, this one a 31-yarder.

The Roughriders took advantage of Joe McKnight's second punt fumble loss of the night, as Durant completed a 20-yard TD pass to John Chiles with five minutes to play. Saskatchewan was able to recover the ensuing on-side kick, leading to a 45-yard field goal to cut the Edmonton lead to four points.

The Riders surged ahead with just 19 second left on a six-yard TD pass to Shamawd Chambers and looked to have had the game won, but Edmonton was able to get a 51-yard field goal from Whyte as time expired to send the contest to overtime.

"I think that's a game we should have won," said Durant. "That's my attitude about it. We have to make sure we correct the mistakes we have been making and just get better."

The Eskimos return to the field on Thursday as they travel to Winnipeg, while the Roughriders return home to face the B.C. Lions next Saturday.

Notes: Durant went over the 25,000 career passing yards mark in the game, his 100th CFL start.