Weather has not been the Edmonton Elks’ friend to start the 2026 season.
It was a wet affair in its Week 1 victory in Ottawa, dealing with wind gusts that forced the Elks to keep the ball on the ground. Consider it successful as running back Justin Rankin scampered for 200 yards of total offence en route to a 29-21 win.
As Rankin vies to become the first player in CFL history wih both 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in a season, he’ll look to find a way to break through a Montreal Alouettes defence giving up just 53 rushing yards against per game in its 2-0 start.
Montreal has been much more susceptible through the air, however, giving up 376 passing yards against per game, having faced Bo Levi Mitchell’s Hamilton Tiger Cats in Week 1 (30-27 OT win) and Chad Kelly’s Toronto Argonauts in Week 2 (37-30 win). Enter Cody Fajardo.
He wasn’t asked to do much in Edmonton’s Week 1 win, but still completed 23 of 34 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown to WR Auston Mack. Look for those two to connect Saturday afternoon again, as Mack will facing off against his former team, who shipped him to Edmonton last winter.
It’s safe to say it’s a game he had circled on the calendar.
“I can’t wait. Super fired up,” he told 880 CHED. “It’s going to be a lot of emotions for me, but I’m just excited to get out there and play football again.
“Won a Grey Cup, got to meet some great guys, played great football. The rest is behind me now. I’m excited to be an Elk and kick some Als a** this weekend.
“They bring a lot of sting (pressure), which in my eyes, as a receiver, I love it, because it’s one-on-one, zero coverage, no help. We’ve just got to beat one person. We can literally take a slant to the house every single time.”
Edmonton Elks @ Ottawa Redblacks
- Date: Saturday, June 20, 2026
- Kickoff: 2 p.m. MT
- Location: Edmonton, Alta.
- Venue: Commonwealth Place
- Watch: TSN
- Weather at kickoff via Environment Canada: 12 degrees, rain, risk of thunderstorm. 80 per cent chance of precipitation. Winds blowing east 20 km/h with gusts up to 40 km/h.
FIELD GOALS
Elks head coach Mark Kilam: “It was big for the franchise, it was big for the city, but it was just one game, and it reaffirmed the things that we were doing in the off-season and through training camp leading into Week 1. But we’ve had a bye, there’s been a reset, and now we have to come out and … play a really good opponent on Saturday.”
QB Cody Fajardo: “You’re going to win a lot of games by protecting the ball. Those are the standards to win around here, that’s who I’ve been as a quarterback. It’s not flashy, it’s not sexy by any means, but I like to stay on the field, I like to play the field possession game, and then I like to protect the ball. And anytime you do that, you usually have a chance to win in the fourth quarter.”
RB Justin Rankin: “I think the biggest thing is we have guys that believe. Believe in each other, believe in each other’s ability. We care about one another and we care about putting good stuff on film. So the biggest thing is just showing up, day in and day out, from Monday to Friday, caring about what we’re doing every day, practising with intention, doing everything with some kind of intention of getting better, and I think on game day that result will show.”
DOWN AND DISTANCE
The Alouettes have had a strong start to the season led by its dangerous passing attack. Quarterback Davis Alexander has already thrown for 777 yards and four touchdowns, with six passes of 30 or more yards, all league-leading marks.
WR Tyson Philpot has been the biggest beneficiary, scampering for 269 receiving yards on 16 receptions, three of which went for touchdowns.
Montreal will be without weak-side linebacker Tyrice Beverette, dealing with a neck injury and landing on the one-game injured list.
DEPTH CHARTS
Elks
Alouettes
