Elks can clinch playoff spot with win over Stampeders after five-year drought

“The past years I haven’t had that, so to know that if we go out and execute at a high level, do what we have to do to win, we can punch that playoff ticket,” said linebacker Nick Anderson. “It’s going to be a true blessing once it comes.”

Last season, the Elks got off to a slow start before finishing strong the second half of the schedule. That finish, suggested running back Justin Rankin, came once the team figured out just who they were.

“We were still trying to figure out who guys were, trying to build a bond, relationships, figure out the coaches, how the players act, things like that,” Rankin said of 2025. “We’re building a foundation and that’s what we did.

“The biggest hurdle that we needed to figure out was just how to win, and with the foundation that we built, I think we came in this year and really just kept putting bricks on top of bricks. That’s kind of where we are now, that we know how to win. We have the team that we want to be, and we all believe in that. We all trusted each other. And I think it shows. “

From Day 1 this year the energy in the dressing room and on the field had been different, said Rankin. Players “are truly believing in each other and really trusting in one another to do their job and not trying to do too much.”

Nowhere has that been more evident than on defence.

The Elks have given up a CFL-low 307 points and head coach Mark Kilam said that has been instrumental in putting Edmonton atop the division.

“They’ve been the backbone of our team all year,” Kilam said Friday after the team’s final walk-through. “We know we have the type of defence that can hold us in games if it takes us a bit longer to get going in other phases. They’ve been a strength of ours all year.”

Monday’s Labour Day game in Calgary was a typical example.

The defence kept the Elks in the game, down 18-7 at halftime, 25-14 after three quarters until the offence erupted for 24 points in the final 15 minutes for a 38-28 win.

Anderson calls the defence resilient.

“We’re a defence that makes adjustments. We’re a defence that makes corrections, plays fast and physical,” he said. “Regardless of what happens we don’t bat an eye; we just continue to play. Management has done a good job of bringing in players ready, willing and able to contribute whenever their number is called.”

If the Elks succeed in earning a playoff spot Saturday, team president and CEO Chris Morris said it will be a “really, really strong accomplishment for everybody in the organization. Something everyone can look at and say all that work, all the hours, everything we’ve done … we can give this back to the community.”

Wide receiver Reggie Begelton is scheduled to make his season debut for Calgary (5-7) in the game. The 33-year-old hasn’t played since he fractured his right leg in the Stampeders’ 29-19 win over the Toronto Argonauts on June 14, 2025. It will be his first game in 15 months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2026.

John Korobanik, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Elks can clinch playoff spot with win over Stampeders after five-year drought

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