The Argonauts were late arriving to their own party on Saturday night.

Trailing the lowly Saskatchewan Roughriders in the first half, the Boatmen were stinking out the joint like incompetent party hosts. But they caught fire in time to thrill an announced crowd of 20,642 at the Rogers Centre.

In 19C temperatures with the roof open, the Argos (4-2) scored a 30-26 comeback victory in their long-awaited CFL home opener after five straight on the road.

“These games are ugly when you play in five days,” head coach Scott Milanovich said post-game.

The Argos were coming off a 34-18 loss to the Ticats in Hamilton on Monday and were facing a team at 0-6 and going with a third-string quarterback.

“I knew it would be that way because you’re a step slow, you’re a step tired,” Milanovich said. “It was way uglier than I expected it to be.”

Missed tackles and penalties took away any rhythm the Argos could find on their own. The Argos, he said, “gutted out an ugly game.”

Milanovich and the players said the electricity in the crowd in the second half energized the team.

Quarterback Trevor Harris was the engineer of the comeback, completing 23 of 29 for 316 yards and TD passes to Diontae Spencer and Vidal Hazelton. It was the fourth time this season he has surpassed 300 yards in the air.

Spencer, replacing an injured Chad Owens in his first CFL start, scored the go-ahead TD on a spectacular 52-yard pass-and-run play with 10 minutes left.

“It’s amazing, man,” Spencer said, crediting Natey Adjei with making the key block to spring him loose. “I’m a playmaker. My coaches expected me to come in, not do too much, but I was filling the shoes of Chad Owens, who’s a legend.”

Adjei, who had family from Mississauga see him in his first CFL start at home, was running a clear route when he noticed the defender retreating.

“That immediately told me Diontae was behind me, so I just tried my best to get on top of him because with Diontae’s speed, he can get north really fast,” Adjei said.

Tori Gurley had set up the score with a catch along the sidelines as the Argos went 98 yards in two plays.

“We are fortunate to sneak out the victory,” Harris said. “That’s the key in football — stepping up when you need to.”

Offensive guard Tyler Holmes said there was a calmness in the huddle even when the Argos looked sluggish, falling behind 13-8 at halftime.

“Trevor does a great job in the huddle,” Holmes said. “He just controls the huddle. He says, ‘Guys, let’s go, let’s execute and let’s move down the field. We’re stopping ourselves.’ ”

Kevin Elliott made two nice catches on the opening drive but suffered a rib injury and didn’t return. He will be examined on Monday.

Roughriders quarterback Brett Smith came into the game as green as the colour of his uniform. Smith, who a year ago was working as a bartender in Salem, Ore., had only six games and one CFL start under his belt.

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But in a performance that reminded Milanovich of Zach Collaros in Hamilton, he put on a Houdini act, finding time under intense pressure to fire two TD strikes to Chris Getzlaf. Smith finished 23 of 35 for 298 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

The play that changed momentum came in the second half when rookie defensive back Akwasi Owusu-Ansah intercepted Smith and ran 50 yards to tie the game 16-16.

“Biggest play of the game, without a doubt,” Milanovich said. “That got us back into the game. That play, followed by Wayne’s (Smith) two-point conversion energized our sidelines, and it was game on.”