James Franklin always wins when he starts games between the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts …

At least, he did before Friday, when the Eskimos won their first game of the season against an East Division opponent, 16-15, in front of 31,056 at Commonwealth Stadium.

After winning two with the Eskimos over the past three seasons, Franklin was unable to equal that total in his first two starts with the Toronto Argonauts in place of the injured Ricky Ray, completing 26 of 36 passes for 296 yards and an interception as the defending Grey Cup champions fell to 1-3.

Trailing by one point with 2:50 remaining, the ex-Eskimos backup quarterback was unable to come up with the same game-winning fourth-quarter drive that saw Toronto come back to win 20-17 a week ago.

This time, it was Mike Reilly’s turn to take his offence on a clock-chewing drive to protect the lead in the dying seconds, as he completed 21 of 36 passes for 258 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, as the Eskimos improved to 3-2.

“I wouldn’t have cared if we won 100-99 or 1-0, we needed to get a win to get back on track,” Reilly said. “For whatever reason, we match up tough against them and they match up tough against us because both games were pretty similar in the sense of late in the fourth quarter, either team could win it.

“Last week, we could have came away with the win, but they did enough to get the win and this week, we were the team that finished it.”

Friday’s game wasn’t just a rematch of last week’s kickoff of this back-to-back series in Toronto, it was a replay of what the Eskimos have seen all too often this season: Plenty of rainfall while they fell behind early on the scoreboard.

In his first game back at Commonwealth Stadium since being traded in the off-season, Franklin came out firing, completing seven of his eight first-quarter passes for 125 yards as the Argos took a 3-0 lead on a 42-yard field goal.

While it stood as the only score of the opening frame, it was the fourth time in five games this season the Eskimos surrendered the early lead.

Rookie running back Jordan Robinson put Edmonton on the board for a 7-3 lead, taking a screen pass 30 yards into the end zone for his first Canadian Football League touchdown with 3:52 left in the half.

A couple of single points and a Ludacris halftime performance later, and the Eskimos had an 8-4 lead early in the third quarter.

Reilly found Williams for a third-down conversion to extend a drive that ended in an 11-yard touchdown reception by the same receiver for a 15-4 advantage.

But a roughing-the-passer penalty against Eskimos defensive end Gerald Rivers set the Argos up in the red zone on the way to a one-yard touchdown run by James Wilder Jr., who was limited to just 26 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, after hitting triple digits a week ago.

A two-point conversion pass to S.J. Green pulled Toronto within three points of the Eskimos.

Hugh O’Neill bounced a punt inside the five yard-line, only to have it roll out the back of the end zone to make it 16-12 with 10 minutes left to play.

Pfeffer made it a one-point game after ringing a 28-yard field-goal attempt off an upright and in to set up the tight finish.

“We talked about it all week, just finish,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said. “No matter how it starts, no matter what goes on in between, just finish the game. And it was awesome to do that at the end of the game, to finish it out on offence.

“But the way our defence played tonight gave us that opportunity, and the way our special teams did, but our offence at the end had to grind it out. And they did it.”

The Eskimos will enjoy a bye in the schedule, before facing the Montreal Alouettes on the road Thursday, July 26 (5:30 p.m., TSN, ESPN+, 630 CHED).

In and out: After losing linebackers J.C. Sherritt and Chris Mulumba-Tshimanga in a span of four plays in the third quarter, the Eskimos had a heart-stopping moment when running back C.J. Gable laid motionless on the field after taking head shots from Argos defensive linemen Troy Davis and Dylan Wynn on the same play.

Unfortunately, no update was offered on his condition after the game.

“I don’t know, I heard from upstairs what happened. I didn’t really get to see it,” Maas said. “I’m just thankful C.J.’s OK. Once I saw his eyes open and he could kind of move around a little bit, it was a good feeling to see that