It’s a special week in the football betting wars – Labour Day Weekend is nearly upon us, with the appropriate Canadian spelling, of course. Monday gives us the two most important matchups of the CFL regular season: the Battle of Ontario and the Battle of Alberta. These games are not for the faint of heart. The 2010 season is already half over, and the difference between winning and losing this week is huge when it comes to making the playoffs.

The other two games on the schedule are just as vital. The Eastern Division teams have the benefit of coming off the bye week, but in the case of the defending Grey Cup champions, they’d just as soon trade that in to get their starting quarterback healthy.

Friday: British Columbia Lions at Montreal Alouettes (7:30 p.m. ET) - ODDS

A good quarterback is everything in the CFL, and the Alouettes (6-2 SU, 4-4 ATS) will be without reigning and three-time Most Outstanding Player Anthony Calvillo because of a bruised sternum. That leaves former Florida Gators standout Chris Leak at the controls on Friday. Leak has spent the last three years in Montreal as Calvillo’s understudy, and has drawn raves as a student of the game. But Leak has only played parts of two games for the Als, going 19-of-28 with a touchdown and an interception.

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Fortunately for the Als, they get to play at home against the last-place Lions (1-7 SU, 2-6 ATS). They’ve dropped their last five games in a row SU and ATS; not even the return of QB Casey Printers could stem the bleeding in last week’s 48-35 loss to the visiting Calgary Stampeders (-5.5). The once-proud Lions are 19-7 against the CFL odds in their past 26 meetings with Montreal.

Sunday: Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Saskatchewan Roughriders (4:00 p.m. ET) - ODDS

It’s difficult to point the finger at any one thing wrong with the Blue Bombers (2-6 SU, 3-5 ATS), other than first-year head coach Paul LaPolice. But injuries have also been a problem for Winnipeg this year, and things could certainly turn around with the return of safety Ian Logan (hamstring) and linebacker Marcellus Bowman (hand). Winnipeg is second only to the Edmonton Eskimos in points allowed at 30.5 per game.

The Roughriders (5-3 SU and ATS) have been on quite the rollercoaster ride, alternating home victories and road losses over the past six games. Last week’s 17-14 defeat at the hands of the Eskimos (+6.5) was especially difficult to swallow. QB Darian Durant has five touchdown throws and 12 interceptions during this six-game span. He’s better than this.

Monday: Toronto Argonauts at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2:30 p.m. ET) - ODDS

These two local rivals (Hamilton is an hour’s drive away from Toronto, traffic notwithstanding) are very evenly matched this year. Each has allowed 26.9 points per game; the Argonauts (5-3 SU and ATS) have the better record despite scoring 10 fewer points on the season than the Tiger-Cats (4-4 SU and ATS). Hamilton also picked up the 16-12 victory as a 3-point dog when they met two weeks ago at the Rogers Centre.

The futures market is a lot more confident about the Ti-Cats. They’re 17-2 to win the 2010 Grey Cup, while Toronto languishes at 13-1. Argos QB Cleo Lemon (seven TDs, five INTs) has yet to establish himself in the Canadian game at the same level as Hamilton’s Kevin Glenn (14 TDs, seven INTs). Toronto also has a rookie place-kicker in Grant Shaw (17-of-25 on field goals), while Hamilton dresses three-time All-Star Sandro DeAngelis (14-of-20, but 8-of-9 in his last four games).

Monday: Edmonton Eskimos at Calgary Stampeders (6:00 p.m. ET) - ODDS

This is a classic Labour Day matchup, but the Eskimos (2-6 SU, 3-5 ATS) are anything but classic this year, while the Stampeders (7-1 SU, 6-2 ATS) have galloped into top place on the Grey Cup futures market at 17-10. They destroyed Edmonton 56-15 when they met two weeks ago at McMahon Stadium, also the site of Monday’s contest. The Stamps improved to 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS against their Alberta rivals with that victory.

Calgary has only been getting stronger as the season rolls along. The latest acquisition: defensive lineman Corey Mace, a product of the Wyoming Cowboys and property of the Buffalo Bills for the past three seasons. The Stampeders defense has already given up the fewest points in the league at 22.1 per game, while scoring the most at 33.9 points. The OVER is 4-1-1 in their last six games, and 4-1 in Edmonton’s last five.