By AL RUCKABER -- Calgary Sun

Cinderella's slipper fit perfectly.

Yesterday, before 43,822 fans at McMahon Stadium, the B.C. Lions completed the ultimate rags-to-riches story in the history of the Grey Cup game.

With their dramatic 28-26 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in the 88th classic, B.C. became the first team in the CFL's recorded history -- dating back to 1936 -- to win the Grey Cup with a losing record.

The ragtag Lions, under head coach Steve Buratto, had been given almost no chance to win the Grey Cup after an 8-10-0-1 regular season.

But upset wins over Edmonton and Calgary in the Western playoffs -- and then the ultimate upset of Montreal in the annual classic -- made this improbable tale come true.

The Alouettes finished the regular season at 12-6 and had been 7.5-point favourites going into the game.

But the Lions, behind the 1-2 running-back punch of Robert Drummond and Sean Millington, survived a late Montreal rally to become the CFL's unlikely champions.

With 44 seconds left, Montreal had pulled to within two points, thanks to a 59-yard Anthony Calvillo-to-Ben Cahoon TD pass. But the two-point convert attempt failed when Calvillo couldn't connect with Thomas Haskins in the endzone.

The Alouettes claimed Haskins was interfered with by Lions cornerback Chuck Levy, but the play stood and B.C. had won its first Grey Cup since beating the Baltimore Stallions, 26-23, in 1994.

The Lions were able to pull off the win thanks to their two big horses -- Drummond, who was named the game's Most Outstanding Player with 122 yards rushing, and Millington, who was selected Most Outstanding Canadian, thanks to 99 yards rushing.

"We are the millennium champions -- the true Cinderella story -- and we like it that way," Drummond said.

"No one gave us a chance but ourselves. All of Canada bet against us. They said we couldn't beat Edmonton (in the Western semifinal). They said we couldn't beat Calgary (in the Western final) and then Montreal. But we believed. We didn't have a winning record, but that was all thrown to the wind once the playoffs started and we got on a roll."

On the Most Outstanding Player award, which comes with a $10,000 cheque, Drummond said: "I wish I could break it up and give it to the rest of my teammates."

Millington, who received $5,000 for his top Canadian award, said the Lions never gave up believing in themselves, even after a real up-and-down season.

"We are the Grey Cup champions. It is an awesome way to cap off an amazing roller-coaster ride," he said.

"We always knew what we could do, even when it wasn't being shown. I guess you could say me and Drummond were like two Lamborghinis being kept in the garage. We got two of those Lamborghinis out for this game."

Lions quarterback Damon Allen added: "What can you say about those two great backs? They came through today when we needed it."

The one cloud that hung over B.C.'s victory was that two-point convert play.

"It's a play we rehearsed in practice and it's the first time all season we had to use it," Montreal head coach Charlie Taaffe said.

"I thought we had a chance to make a play. I'm not going to cry about it and make excuses. I saw Thomas Haskins get pushed in the back and I thought it was pass interference. I was down on field level, but the coaches up in the box saw it, too. But I'm not allowed to criticize officials."

The Lions didn't figure there was any pass interference and Allen said that even if it had been called, "we were all prepared and set to go on offence and get the points back. We did have plenty of time (40 seconds) to do that."

Allen wasn't concerning himself with what never happened. He was much more into talking about the unlikely championship year.

"From the outside, you can look at our record and wonder how we got here. But we began playing our best football late in the year, in the playoffs, when it counted. That wasn't an 8-10 Lions team. That was a championship team."

Buratto summed it up best.

"This was the best 8-10 team to ever get into the playoffs. It took a long time to get to eight wins, but once we got there, we had created an awfully-good team. "

As it turns out, a Grey Cup champion team. One for the ages and for the record book.