The Stampeders received big contributions from all three units in a 40-26 victory over the BC Lions on Friday at McMahon Stadium.

The win was Calgary’s third in a row and gives the Stamps a 12-3 mark, good for a six-point lead over Saskatchewan (9-5) and BC (9-6) for top spot in the West Division.

Clifton Smith, a former National Football League Pro Bowler making his CFL debut, logged 188 return yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a six-yard reception with 5:36 to play in the fourth quarter.

Jon Cornish recorded his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game — breaking his own single-season record for yards by a Canadian — and scored his league-leading 11th touchdown on the ground.

The defence iced the victory on Chris Randle’s 65-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Down 26-11 at the six-minute mark of the third quarter, the Lions rallied with 15 unanswered points to even the score at 26-26. That set the stage for the late Calgary surge.

“We knew that it was going to be the plays in the fourth quarter that we would have to make to win the game,” said Stamps head coach and general manager John Hufnagel, who has won at least a dozen games in four of his six seasons at the helm of the Red and White. “I was very pleased to see all three phases of our football team do things in the fourth quarter to help us win.”

Smith, who joined the team on Sept. 14 and was activated for the first time, had 200 all-purpose yards in his debut.

“Even though this was his first CFL game, with his experience that he brought from the other league, I was pretty sure the game wouldn’t be too big for him,” said Hufnagel. “And he took advantage of an opportunity. He played hard, made some excellent returns and tremendous job on the touchdown catch.”

It was one of two scoring throws by Kevin Glenn, who also hooked up with Marquay McDaniel on a 20-yarder in the third quarter. Glenn threw for 259 yards on the night to pick up his eighth win this season as Calgary’s starter.

“It’s another big win against a good team,” said Glenn, “and it’s putting us in a good position for the playoffs.”

Rene Paredes booted four field goals for the Stamps and finished the game with a total of 16 points.

BC’s Thomas DeMarco had touchdown passes to Courtney Taylor and Nick Moore and had a rushing major. DeMarco and Taylor also connected on a two-point conversion and Paul McCallum added a field goal.

The Stampeders travel north to take on the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday, Oct. 18. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.