The Calgary Stampeders survived 11 penalties, three lost fumbles and a fourth-quarter rally by the visitors to post a 37-34 victory in the Labour Day Classic at McMahon Stadium on Monday.

The Stamps held a 37-7 lead with less than 10 minutes to play and hung on to improve to 4-0 at home and 7-2 overall. The Eskimos fall to 1-8. The same teams will meet again Friday at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.

“We knew Edmonton was a good fourth-quarter team,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “We knew that there was no quit in that football team. That has been demonstrated all season long. Unfortunately, we made too many careless mistakes, gave them opportunities and they took advantage of it. Fortunately, we made the plays at the very end to allow us to win.”

Hufnagel says his post-game message to the players was simple.

“Two things,” he said. “No. 1, enjoy the win because it’s not an easy thing to do. I thought our team played hard, they played fast, they played physical. We need to play smarter, and I say that to my football team all the time — turnovers are a big component of winning and losing.”

Calgary is now 4-2 in the Labour Day Classic since Hufnagel took over the coaching reins.

Maurice Price, back in the lineup after being sidelined by injury in Week 9, had five catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns for the Stamps.

After Kevin Glenn left the game with an injury, Bo Levi Mitchell came in and threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and also had a rushing major. Glenn had 108 yards passing and one touchdown before departing.

“Kevin has a bit of a bruised knee,” explained Hufnagel. “He could have played, but he wouldn’t have had the mobility that I thought we needed at the position because of the pressure their front-four was getting on us.”

Edmonton recorded four sacks, but the Stamps defence was even more productive with seven sacks including three by Charleston Hughes and two by Juwan Simpson.

Calgary also got 13 points from the boot of Rene Paredes — four converts and field goals of 41, 14 and 24 yards.

Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly threw touchdown passes to Fred Stamps, John White, Cary Koch and Matt Carter while backup quarterback Kerry Joseph had a rushing score.

The Eskimos turned the ball over four times — twice on throws intercepted by Fred Bennett and twice on downs.

Kickoff for Friday’s rematch in Edmonton is at 7 p.m. MDT.