It certainly hasn’t felt quite the same the last five seasons seeing the Edmonton Elks outside the playoffs.
That’s why it’s been so encouraging to watch one of the CFL’s most successful franchises get off to such a strong start in 2026.
Thanks to a gutsy 23-18 road win over Winnipeg on Thursday, the Elks are now 3-0 for the first time since 2017. Included in that record is a win at one of the league’s toughest road venues in Princess Auto Stadium and an overtime triumph against previously unbeaten Montreal.
This is a really promising start in the Alberta capital.
And the word start is key here. It was one of the main focuses for second-year head coach Mark Kilam after Edmonton stumbled to a 1-6 record out of the gates in 2025. Despite a nice rally sparked by quarterback Cody Fajardo, that early hole was too much to dig out of.
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But that turnaround last year, which included a stretch of six wins in nine games between August and October, set some important groundwork. Fajardo solidified the starting job after Tre Ford opened the season on top of the depth chart. Running back Justin Rankin, defensive lineman Noah Taylor, and linebacker Joel Dublanko, among others, solidified their spots as cornerstone pieces.
And intent on rectifying the team’s poor start in his first season, it gave Kilam that much more to work with entering year two.
“They understand what we’re doing, the systems that we’re teaching,” Kilam told CFL.ca at CFL Winter Meetings in January.
“It was three new systems last year. (Now) we’ve had a year together. The level we ended at, the foundation we built, is who we wanted to be, how we wanted to practice, and how we wanted to prepare. Now it’s on us to take the step from there and continue to climb and get better.
“They know who I am, what we’re all about, the things we’re trying to build. They bought into that. Now our focus is winning the off-season as far as how we’re preparing so that we can have a great training camp, and so we can get out of the gate quickly.”
I think you can say mission accomplished on that front.
Fajardo has moved the ball accurately and effectively, which is what we’ve come to expect from the 10-year veteran. Rankin is literally running away on top of the rushing table with 387 yards and four touchdowns. Dublanko and Nick Anderson, despite the latter missing Thursday’s win with injury, have made a great linebacker duo. And newcomers Malik Carney and Austin Mack have both made strong early impressions.
The CFL is better when the Elks are competitive. And seeing them get off to their best start in almost a decade is one of the good early stories of 2026. Next up is a trip to Kelowna this weekend to take on the BC Lions.
O CANADA!
On the heels of this weekend’s historic win for Canada at the World Cup, I wanted to add a little patriotic flavour to this week’s column. And it didn’t take much deliberating to highlight this outstanding crop of Canadian receivers on display in 2026.
As I wrote about Friday previewing that night’s showdown between Toronto and Saskatchewan, we’re watching an unprecedented class of National pass catchers. It’s something Hall of Famer receiver Milt Stegall has been talking about all season, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Friday’s game featured four Canadian standouts in Kevin Mital, Samuel Emilus, David Ungerer III, and Kian Schaffer-Baker. And that’s honestly just scratching the surface.
With 198 receiving yards Sunday, his third straight game in the triple digits, Montreal’s Tyson Philpot leads the CFL with 587 yards to go along with three touchdowns. Schaffer-Baker, fresh off adding another 89 yards to his total, sits second at 384. And Mital is fourth at 325 yards, making it three Canadians in the league’s top five.
When you add in BC’s Justin McInnis (247 yards), Emilus (246), and Hamilton’s Kiondré Smith (239), you get six Canadian receivers in the top 10 overall. And then there’s Nic Demski, Ungerer III, and Tommy Nield all just on the outside having strong seasons, too.
It’s hard to pinpoint precisely what’s behind this recent wave of Canadian pass catching talent. But it’s an undeniable trend over the last few years and is more at the forefront now than it’s ever been.
QUICK HITS
Defensive end Folarin Orimolade made an immediate impact in his return to Calgary’s lineup Saturday night. In his first game back since an Achilles injury sustained in Week 14 last year, Orimolade recorded four tackles and a sack as the Stamps won their first game of the season 41-33 over BC. Orimolade made Calgary’s defensive front significantly harder to block as the front four got after Nathan Rourke to the tune of four sacks.
Finally, the Elks weren’t the only team to pick up an impressive road win in Week 4. Toronto’s 40-34 win over the Riders at Mosaic Stadium deserves a little love, too. In fact, the Argos have come out swinging for new head coach Mike Miller. After a tight loss to the Alouettes to open the season, Toronto has put up 84 points in back-to-back wins over the REDBLACKS and the Riders.
