That jump came in season-opening play Friday night, when in front of 26,155 fans at Winnipeg's Canad Inns Stadium he moved past Alondra Johnson for second in career defensive tackles with his 1,085th -- delivered in the second quarter.

Like he has on a number of previous occasions, Milton's 37-year-old linebacker maintained that his individual numbers are about longevity and not anything to get hung up on.

The Argos' stalwart was likely more focused on his team's overall strong defensive showing, that helped overshadow a short-circuiting offence and powered Toronto to a 23-16 decision over the Blue Bombers.

The win was a payback of sorts for last year's loss to Winnipeg in the East finals.

The six-foot-three-inch, 224-pounder would highlight Friday's efforts with a big fourth-quarter sack of Bombers quarterback Kevin Glenn, who was picked off three times by the Argos' secondary.

A five-time East Division all-star and three-time Grey Cup champion (1996, '97 and '04), O'Shea is now in his 16th season in the CFL -- with most of that time spent with the Boatmen.