GUELPH, Ont. -- C.J. Gable and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats took a huge step towards securing a home playoff game Monday. The rookie rushed for 118 yards and a TD as the Ticats held on to beat the Toronto Argonauts 24-18 and sweep an important home-and-home series with their arch rivals. Hamilton reached the 8-7 mark through 15 games for just the second time since 01 and pulled to within two points of first-place Toronto (9-6) in the East Division. The Ticats moved four points ahead of third-place Montreal (6-9), which lost 34-27 to Winnipeg (3-12) on Monday, heading into a crucial home-and-home series with the Alouettes. "It means a lot to us, we need this as motivation for the next game," Gable said "We know we have a good team here . . . some games we show it, some games we dont but now were putting it all together." But Toronto, which struggled with consistency and penalties all game, made it interesting. Ricky Rays 13-yard TD to Jason Barnes cut Hamiltons lead to six points at 6:43 of the fourth before an enthusiastic season-high Alumni Stadium gathering of 13,362. "These fans were loud as heck," Ticats quarterback Henry Burris said. "The fact we didnt have Labour Day, Thanksgiving made up for it in proper fashion, especially with what was on the line with us two being in the top two slots in the East. "The fans definitely rose to the occasion and were very thankful for that." Ray then took over at Torontos four-yard line with 4:02 remaining and drove the Argos to Hamilton 37 before being picked off by Hamiltons Arthur Hobbs in the end zone. That was Rays first interception this season. "Just really proud the defence got a turnover at the end of the game," Ticats coach Kent Austin said. "A couple times this year weve not been able to close teams out on that side of the ball but they were able to do that tonight against a really good football team. "Great teams string football games together. They dont have one good game, then are off for a week then another good game, then off a week. All we focus on now is stringing the next one together." Hamilton also beat Toronto 33-19 at Rogers Centre on Oct. 4 to clinch the season series 2-1. That earned the Ticats the Ballard Trophy but, more importantly, the tiebreaker should the two finish tied in the standings. Burris was 27-of-36 passing for 350 yards and an interception. Rookie Luke Tasker had seven catches for a game-high 113 yards while Gable added five catches for 46 yards. "We knew at some point they were going to make a run and they definitely did there in the fourth quarter," Burris said. "But to see our defence go out there and put the game away and make a huge stop when the pressure was on, that gives our team a lot of confidence. "Right now, were going after that home playoff game and were going to continue moving forward and do what we can to make sure we get a home playoff game at least, then go for first after that." Ray finished 26-of-34 passing for 303 yards with two TDs and the pick in his first start after missing six games with a shoulder injury. Toronto was 4-2 over that span under sophomore Zach Collaros. But Toronto was lucky to still be within striking distance following a sloppy first half. The Argos mustered just five first downs and 137 net yards and were flagged 10 times yet only trailed 16-8, thanks to Rays 32-yard TD strike to Spencer Watt at 13:41 of the second. "Were a good football team but were not good enough to beat ourselves and get away with it," said Argos head coach Scott Milanovich. "We need to play better football . . . you need to play your best football when you enter November and right now I guess it would be safe to say we are not doing that. "He (Ray) felt like he had made good decisions. It was a weird game, hard to get a feel with how he was playing." Toronto also fielded a defence that featured five players in new positions. That included Neiko Thorpe making his first CFL start in place of all-star cornerback Pat Watkins (personal issues) while offensively the defending Grey Cup champions were without receiver John Chiles (hamstring) and tailback Chad Kackert (shoulder). Toronto still remains in the drivers seat for top spot in the East. It plays a home-and-home series with Winnipeg before finishing against Montreal. Hamilton opened the second half impressively with a seven-play, 69-yard scoring march capped by Gables two-yard TD run at 4:01 of the third. The Ticats then went 69 yards on 10 plays but Brett Lauther missed a 28-yard field goal that went for a single and a 24-8 advantage. Toronto drove to the Hamilton 11-yard line late in the third, resulting in Swayze Waters 18-yard field goal at 14:47 to cut the Argos deficit to 13 points. Waters also had two converts and a single. Dan LeFevour ran for Hamiltons other two TDs. Lauther added the converts and a single with the other points coming on a safety. NOTES: Mondays game was a homecoming for Argos special-teams coach Mike OShea, who played at Guelph (1989-92) and is a member of the schools Hall of Fame . . . Chiles has a team-high eight TD catches for Toronto . . . Kicker Luca Congi and running back Chevon Walker were among Hamiltons scratches . . . Ray came in with a 78.3 per cent completion average and if he maintains that pace hed break the CFL single-season mark of 74 per cent held by Calgary offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson. Eden Hazard Belgium Jersey . A special committee of the City of Markham voted unanimously to bring forward a funding proposal for the new arena to a full council meeting next Thursday night. Si... Mignolet World Cup Jersey . In a memo to the committee sent earlier this week and obtained by The Associated Press, the league said research showed there were 30 ACL injuries in games through the preseason and first 13 weeks of the schedule. htt... . -- Three-sport star Bubba Starling, perhaps the most celebrated high school athlete in Kansas history, made a last-second decision Monday night to forgo football at Nebraska and play baseball for the Kansas City Royals. [url=http://www.belgiumsoccerproshop.com/Nacer-Chadli-World-Cup-Jersey.html]Nace... Chadli Belgium Jersey . The Suns pulled away with a 23-3 run and went on to beat the NBAs worst road team, the Orlando Magic, 109-93 on Wednesday night. Si... Mignolet Jersey . However, it doesnt seem right to review an NFL season that is still building towards its finale, Super Bowl XLVII. BORMIO, Italy -- Aiming for back-to-back victories, Canadas Erik Guay simply wants to maintain his form for Sundays World Cup downhill on the physically demanding Stelvio course. The Bode Miller-led U.S. speed team, by contrast, is still looking for its first podium finish of the season -- with the Sochi Olympics only 41 days away. And if the final training session in Bormio was any indication, things havent changed much since last weekend, when Guay won the Val Gardena downhill and Miller finished fifth. Guay, from Mont-Tremblant, Que., also led training Saturday and Miller was fifth again. "I feel like my racing is in a really good spot -- better than its ever been," Guay said. "And I know the reason as well, so thats pretty exciting." Guay won the Val Gardena downhill last weekend but has never finished better than fourth in Bormio. "Some years I come here and Im intimidated by the course and I dont feel quite up to it," he said. "This year Im excited about it and Im looking forward to the challenge tomorrow." While Guay would not reveal the "reason" for his speed, he did attribute some of his success to his personal coach, his younger brother Stefan Guay, a former World Cup racer. "To start working well with a coach typically takes two years, sometimes three," Guay said. "Stef now in his second season, I find hes getting confident and better every time. So that instills a lot of confidence in myself." The Stelvio is known for its knee-jarring bumps and shadows, making it a serious physical test. And this year, theres an added wrinkle with recent snowfall providing changing conditions all the way down. "Up top its quite soft and then toward the middle it gets a little bit firmer and more choppy and then toward the bottom its standard Bormio -- rock hard, fast, rattly," Guay said. "So its got a little bit of everything and it takes a fine touch to adjust on the way down. But its a fun course." Miller is still working on his downhill form after a year off to recover from left knee microfracture surgery, but hes comforted by top 10 results in both super-G and downhill last weekend, plus past success in Bormio.dddddddddddd He swept the gold medals in super-G and downhill at the 2005 world championships here and also won the World Cup downhill in 2007. "It hasnt been the season that I had hoped but Ive been making progress all year," Miller said. "I look forward to hills that are a little bit tougher and a little more challenging and this one definitely is that." While Miller finished second to Ted Ligety in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, this month, no U.S. man has reached the podium in a speed race this season. "Its definitely been a bit of a slow start but weve definitely been building -- slowly," said Marco Sullivan, the veteran skier from Squaw Valley, California. "We have four or five guys who are consistently in the points, its just a matter of moving into that top 10." Its been a sharp change from this point last season, when Sullivan had finished third in the season-opening downhill in Lake Louise, Alberta; Steven Nyman had won the Val Gardena downhill; and Ligety had placed fourth in two super-Gs. Could it be that the Americans are pacing themselves to peak in Sochi? "I dont think thats it," Sullivan said. "I dont really know what to attribute it to but no one is going slow on purpose. Were all trying to go fast each week." One of the problems has been the race conditions. "The first couple of races were cold and icy and we hadnt trained on that," U.S. mens head coach Sasha Rearick said. "Now weve had the chance to do that." Errors have also played a role, with both Ligety and Nyman failing to finish races in Val Gardena. But there are signs of a turnaround, with Miller, Sullivan and Travis Ganong -- another Squaw Valley native -- combining to set the fastest time in every section in Fridays opening training session, when Miller was second. "Its kind of a cool stat," Nyman said. "But its just putting it all together and I think thats kind of the big thing right now." ' ' '