They really did save the best for last.

To mark a year of unparalleled recovery, the B.C. Lions responded to the threat of playing another road game this season with a performance that exceeded everything else they had previously accomplished on the way to becoming West Division regular-season champions.

They stitched together another standout performance by Travis Lulay, who threw for four touchdowns, three of which were caught by Andrew Harris, and sewed up a CFL kicking record for Paul McCallum as they pounded the Montreal Alouettes 43-1 Saturday.

It had the making of a classic, given that the results of play earlier in the weekend set up the first meeting in league history where both division titles were on the line.

But the Lions instead turned the game into an advertisement that their standout turnaround from an 0-5 start was indeed no fluke as they secured a date in the West Division final Nov. 20 at B.C. Place Stadium by dominating the Als in every facet of play.

"We became a monster that couldn't be stopped," centre Angus Reid said.

The defence set the tone early in what was the largest win in franchise history over the Als. Veteran defensive end Brent Johnson, effectively playing his first game since Oct. 22 after missing one game to the birth of his son and another where he did not play as a result of a concussion, had a pair of early sacks.

Meantime, Harris and Lulay got things rolling offensively. Harris had touchdown runs of 11 and 33 yards. Later, Lulay found Shawn Gore for a seven-yard score that surely was the result of some pregame thought. The second-year receiver was in danger of setting a CFL record for having the most yards without a touchdown in a season.

At that point, it was almost all about records.

Looking to become the league's single-season percentage kicker, McCallum hit a 27-yard field goal, giving him a success rate of 93.8 per cent at that point.

Geroy Simon had 76 yards in the first half, but couldn't overtake Milt Stegall for the all-time receiving title.

The only mistake by the Lions all night didn't come until midway through the third quarter, when Lulay was intercepted by the Als' Billy Parker.

But that was only after Harris caught another easy score.

Needing to win in order to play host to the East Division final, the Als pulled quarterback Anthony Calvillo after he had been sacked for the fourth time, having completed only nine of 17 passes for 63 yards, clearly a rare low point for football's career passing yardage leader.

"Our thing was about setting a tone early," said middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who was punishing in his first game after he was not selected as the team's top defensive player. "If you didn't know that was him going into the game, you wouldn't know that was [Calvillo]."

However, backup Adrian McPherson was picked off by cornerback Dante Marsh on his first series and McCallum, who connected from 38 yards earlier in the quarter, had three more in the fourth to secure the record. The kicking exhibition gave the 41-year-old kicker the league percentage field goal at 94.3 per cent previously set in 2000 by Lui Passaglia.

Parker got Lulay later in the fourth when he collided with the B.C. quarterback, who clearly wasn't needed at that point, having finished off the fifth-best passing season by a Lions pivot with 4,822 yards on the year.

"I wasn't going to tap myself out," said Lulay, who suffered a charley horse on the play. "I'm just fortunate I'm OK."

A crowd of 35,454 took in the contest, giving the Lions a season average of 29,725, arresting a two-season box-office slide. B.C. now has two weeks to meet or beat those figures when either the Edmonton Eskimos or Calgary Stampeders will contest a berth to the Grey Cup game Nov. 27. What the Lions did to Calvillo and the Als was compelling proof they have even more to give in a season of remarkable resiliency. They really have saved the best for last.

lullrich@theprovince.com