THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER -- Shawn Gore does not have to worry about any teammates ribbing him for a little while.

Gore caught two touchdown passes as the B.C. Lions edged the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 39-36 at B.C. Place Stadium on Friday night.

The defending Grey Cup-champion Lions overcame a slow start and survived a late Hamilton rally for their second straight win. The Tiger-Cats remain winless after two games.

"It felt good compared to last year to get the TDs in early and just keep building off of that,'' said Gore. "But there were still missed plays out there, but until we're perfect and we have no missed assignments, we can't be that happy.''

Gore's two-touchdown night in the second game of the season was in sharp contrast to 2011. The 25-year-old Toronto native's lone touchdown - the only other one of his three-year career - came in the final regular-season contest against Montreal.

"It was great to see him get in the end zone,'' said B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay, who completed 17 of 31 passes for 178 yards. "Now, there's no jinx on it.

"It took him to Week 18 last year to get into the end zone. It was one of those things where guys were kind of giving him a hard time as the year went on. So that's great to see. Gore's gotten a ton better. He was up here all off-season, so I've probably worked with Gore more than anyone, and it's good to see that pay off a little bit when it counts.''

Tim Brown also stood out for the Lions as he returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown. He finished with a total of 296 return yards - 157 on punts and 139 more on kickoffs.

The strong night came after new coach Mike Benevides said at training camp that he wanted to see more from Brown and brought other players in to push him for a roster spot.

"The guys in front of me did a great job blocking,'' said Brown. "They did a great job last week, and we kept on working that chemistry and that teamwork.''

Paul McCallum's third field goal of the game, a 19-yarder at 9:34 of the fourth quarter, proved to be the difference. Andrew Harris and Lulay, both on one-yard runs, also scored touchdowns for the Lions.

B.C. overcame early 7-0 and 14-7 deficits before jumping into a big lead and then holding off Hamilton in a game that featured several electrifying plays.