A lot has happened since the Edmonton Elks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers last met in Week 4.
The Elks walked out of Princess Auto Stadium that Thursday night with a 23-18 win, and since, have gone 4-3. The Blue Bombers, meanwhile, have gone a similar 4-2.
Friday night’s fight at Commonwealth Stadium poses an opportunity for the Elks however, as a win can secure them a season-series win over Winnipeg. And fresh off a blowout 42-12 win over the Toronto Argonauts, they’re ready to bring forth a war of attrition.
“Our brand of football is physicality,” said Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo. “By the fourth quarter, when you’re handing the ball off, and it’s 20 carries, 22 carries, that’s when it helps you take over in the fourth quarter.
“You’ve seen a lot of our games this year won in the fourth quarter because we just do a really good job of just wearing teams down with those carries. And sometimes you hand the ball off, and it’s a one- or two-yard gain, but the physicality on that one- or two-yard gain goes a lot further than one or two yards in the stat sheet.
“We impose our will offensively, and we try to do that, and defences usually come out on fire and come out with some physicality, so we try to match their energy, but sustain it for four quarters.”
There will, of course, be the element of the records coming to fruition beyond just how these teams have played since Week 4. Winnipeg has gone 3-0 on the road so far this season, the only team to be undefeated in such situation, while the Elks boast a 4-1 record on home-field, the best such record in the West.
Dominating home-field is expected, said Elks defensive back JJ Ross.
“That’s our standard, we know what it is,” said Ross. “Especially at home, too. We’ve got to make it for people at home.”
Edmonton Elks vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Date: Friday, Aug. 21, 2026
- Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. MT
- Location: Edmonton, Alta.
- Venue: Commonwealth Stadium
- Watch: TSN
- Weather at kickoff via Environment Canada: 26 degrees and sunny. Wind blowing southeast at 10 km/h.
FIELD GOALS
Elks head coach Mark Kilam on the differences in Winnipeg since Week 4: “Their whole defence has gotten better since we played them in Game 3. They’re a veteran group, they understand the nuance of what they’re doing, you can see that on film. It’s going to be a challenge. It’s a challenge every time, but when you have players of that calibre you definitely have to up that game.”
Kilam on the Elks spreading the ball around offensively: “You want to be a balanced offence like that, you want to spread it around. Anybody can get hot and get their opportunities. We talk about taking advantage of your opportunities when you get them, but it goes back to the quarterback seeing the field as well as he did.”
Fajardo on the Elks playing their 10th straight game: “We’re on Game 10 of 10 straight, which is one of the longest stretches in the CFL, so our guys are limping to to the finish line, and the message was get to 8-3 at the bye week. In order to do that, you’ve got to (beat Toronto), and that was phase one, it’s complete, and now we’ve got a tall task against a Winnipeg team that’s playing much better than when we faced them earlier on in the year, and so in order for us to get to 8-3 we’re going to have our hands full.”
DEPTH CHARTS
Elks
The Elks are coming into Week 12 healthy with no injuries carrying over from last week. They’ll return the same starting lineup they had on both sides of the ball from last we
