The Argos had their bid for a third Canadian Football League title end yesterday at Molson Stadium when they turned the ball over four times en route to a 41-28 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in the East semi-final.

The Als advance to this Sunday's division final against Hamilton, while the Argos will be left with the awful memory of a game they gave away.

"Our generosity gave up 10, maybe 14 points," Argos head coach Don Matthews said. "In that type of game, it was impossible for us to overcome that."

"It was bad luck that we had some bad plays," said quarterback Kerwin Bell, who tossed one interception and had three fumbles in an otherwise gritty personal performance.

"All day long we were playing catchup and I guess they made the plays to win this game," slotback Derrell Mitchell said.

But the Als felt it was more a case of them winning than the Argos giving them the victory.

"They lost the game because of our pressure and us just being a better team," Als rush end Elfrid Payton said.

The Argos fell behind 14-0 on Montreal's first two series, the first touchdown coming two plays after Montreal intercepted Bell on his first pass, which fluttered en route to his intended target, Duane Dmytryshyn.

The Argos bravely battled back, whittling the deficit to 14-10 after a 13-yard touchdown catch by Derrell Mitchell at 3:06 of the second quarter and a 47-yard field goal by Carlos Huerta about two minutes later.

The Argos fell behind 21-10 with less than three minutes to go in the half when Torey Hunter recovered a Bell fumble in the end zone. It happened one play after Lester Smith returned a punt out of the end zone instead of giving up a single point.

"You can't win a playoff game like that, there's too much emotion involved," wideout Paul Masotti said.

The Argos scored on their next series when Bell hooked up with Andrew English on an 11-yard pass, but Montreal closed out the half with a 37-yard field goal by Terry Baker.

The Argos had the momentum in the second half, but Toronto turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter on fumbles by Bell, who absorbed some vicious blindside hits.

Despite all the errors, the Argos still believed they had a chance to win up until a failed short kickoff with about a minute to go.

"I thought we played a whale of a game in their ball park," Bell said. "With the mistakes we made, we still hung with it against a very great team."

Bell hit on 38 of 49 passes for 365 yards and had three touchdowns. He played a gusty game, absorbing physical abuse from the Als defence. Bell, who is not known for his mobility, rushed the ball six times for 27 yards.

"It was a great effort, the boy's a tough son of a gun," Argos co-offensive co-ordinator John Jenkins said of Bell. "He kept coming back."

The Argos kept Als running back Mike Pringle, the league's premier rusher, in check for most of the game before he bustled loose for a 40-yard gain late in the fourth quarter en route to registering a total of 135 on 22 carries.

Als quarterback Tracy Ham, who injured his wonky left knee in the third quarter but returned in the fourth after missing one series, hit on 20 of 27 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns.

Summary
 MONTREAL (CP) -- CFL Sunday afternoon:
 First Quarter
 Mtl -- TD Armstrong 17 pass from Ham (Baker convert) 1:34
 Mtl -- TD Armstrong 19 pass from Ham (Baker convert) 7:12
 Second Quarter
 Tor -- TD Mitchell 13 pass from Bell (Huerta convert) 3:06
 Tor -- FG Huerta 46 5:32
 Mtl -- TD Hunter fumble recovery in end zone (Baker convert) 12:10
 Tor -- TD English 11 pass from Bell (Huerta convert) 13:58
 Mtl -- FG Baker 38 15:00
 Third Quarter
 Mtl -- FG Baker 48 2:51
 Tor -- Single Prefontaine 42 6:37
 Tor -- FG Huerta 41 8:57
 Mtl -- TD Cody 29 pass from Ham (Baker convert) 13:12
 Fourth Quarter
 Tor -- TD Clemons 15 pass from Bell (Huerta convert) 13:54
 Mtl -- TD Pringle 4 14:10
 
 Toronto   0  17  4  7--28
 Montreal 14 10 10 7--41
 
 Attendance -- 17,495