Elks head to Winnipeg aiming for 3-0 start – Edmonton

WINNIPEG – The Edmonton Elks flew into town riding high to open their season at 2-0 for the first time since 2019.

They can go 3-0 for the first time since 2017 if they can defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Princess Auto Stadium on Thursday night.

“We already knew we’re a good football team,” quarterback Cody Fajardo told reporters in Edmonton after the Elks beat the Montreal Alouettes 32-29 in overtime last week. “Most importantly, it puts the league on notice. This is not the same Edmonton Elks organization that it was a few years ago. That’s my message to the guys in the locker room, the standard has changed here. We win football games. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, we win football games.”

Elks running back Justin Rankin has led the team to victory in both games. He rushed for 176 yards and added 54 receptions against Montreal. He leads the CFL with 281 rushing yards and is averaging 8.9 yards per carry.

The 1-1 Bombers have yet to prove they can stop the run. Both the Calgary Stampeders (in a 30-28 loss) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (in a 37-27 win) rushed for a total of 171 yards against their once vaunted defense.

“It’s something we haven’t been good at the last two weeks and it’s definitely something we need to clean up and get better at,” Winnipeg defenseman Jake Ceresna said. “It’s definitely a priority for us and that’s our main focus going into this game.”

The former Elk knows what a challenge it will be to stop Rankin.

“It will be a long task,” said Ceresna. “He’s a great runner. Like one of the best in the league, if not the best in the league.”

Rankin apparently modeled himself after Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira.

“The boy is very special with the ball in his hands and I think that, as a fan, it is very exciting to watch his game,” said Oliveira. “I envy his speed. When the ball is in his hands, he has the ability to take it 70, 80, 90 yards.”

Rankin doesn’t do it alone, though.

“Have you seen him play? He’s very good,” Elks head coach Mark Kilam said. “But everybody else has to do their job around him. It’s a team game. Twelve players on the field have to do their job for any play to be successful.”

So stopping Rankin will be key as Winnipeg’s defense looks for redemption for its poor play in the loss to the Ticats after a solid bye week.

“Overall, we didn’t play our best game,” Bombers linebacker Tony Jones said. “We were making streaks and being out of gaps or whatever it was. Anytime you take turns defensively, they turn into blowouts that are big plays that make it 10 times harder (to win). We sat on that this week, but we’re extremely ready to get back out there against a good Edmonton team and show what we can do when we’re clicking.

“Overall, it just wasn’t us. When everyone is clicking on all cylinders, we know what we can bring to the table.”

They also need to be better at bringing down the ball carrier.

Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said: “The tackling needs to improve. “These things are important. Rankin, right now, he’s on fire, so he’s going to need all 12 guys to rush to the ball, wrap it up and carry it because he’s gotten out of a lot of tight jams. It’s been impressive to watch.”

Rankin is up for the challenge.

“I show up and play,” he said. “They watch film, I watch film. At the end of the day, the best man wins.”

BROWN RETURNS

The Bombers acquired center back Dru Brown and a second-round pick in the 2027 draft from the Ottawa Redblacks for a first-round pick in 2027 and a conditional second-round pick in 2028 on Tuesday. Brown began his career with Winnipeg in 2021 and played for the Bombers for three years before moving to Ottawa.

“We made our team better,” O’Shea said. “We’ve got a young football player who loves the game, he’s been in this building before so we know him very well and he’s been in the (current) system as well. You add that kind of experience, it’s a positive.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 24, 2026

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