CALGARY — Cody Fajardo isn’t going to mess with a winning formula, not even during Grey Cup week.
The Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Elks held their final walkthroughs Saturday. That left the players and coaches with plenty of down time before Sunday’s championship game.
For many, the night before the Grey Cup is an opportunity to catch up with family over dinner. Fajardo will go out for a meal, but with teammates Justin Rankin and Austin Mack to maintain their season-long routine.
“We’re going to ditch our families (Saturday),’ Fajardo said. “We’re going to do that because we’ve got to keep the ritual the same.”
Ditto for Fajardo being the first Elk to have his ankles taped Sunday.
“That’s just something I’ve done my entire career,” he said. “After that, it’s ready to roll in the Grey Cup.”
Montreal linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku will spend Saturday night with his mother, Nancy.
“My mom just got in town so I’m happy about that,” Cantin-Arku said. “I’ll go to The Keg like we do every week, normally I go with Davis (quarterback Davis Alexander) but now I’ll go with my mom.
“I’ll have the same steak and my wings, then go to bed ready to go (Sunday).”
Montreal is in the CFL title game for the second straight year after suffering a 25-17 setback to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Alouettes are also chasing a second league crown after winning in 2023.
Ironically, the MVP of Montreal’s ’23 win was none other than Fajardo. Alexander was Fajardo’s backup in 2023 but led Montreal to last year’s Grey Cup as the starter.
Mother Nature will do her best to ensure quality playing conditions. The forecast is calling for the temperature at kickoff to be around 8 C and drop to roughly 4 C by the time the contest ends, with wind of 15 km/h, gusting to 23 km/h.
And maybe that will result in a good walk-up. As of Saturday, 30,832 tickets have been sold or distributed, leaving about 4,768 tickets remaining.
Montreal head coach Jason Maas, a four-time Grey Cup champion, said players differ regarding how they complete their final game preparation.
“We won’t have any meetings (Saturday), we never have a meeting game day, ever,” Maas said. “Our guys are free, they understand what we’re setting out to do.
“There’s a curfew every night but other than that the guys understand what’s at stake, there’s no worry there. I prefer guys to relax now, be with their families and obviously be ready to go (Sunday) … but what you’ve done to get here, that stays the same.”
Edmonton head coach Mark Kilam said the Elks will continue their season-long routine of holding a team meeting Saturday night.
“But from now until that time, they’ll be with their families and taking it all in or doing what they’ve got to do,” he said. “We’ll come back (Saturday night) and just do the meeting that we always do.
“Then (Sunday), we have meetings and walkthrough in the morning before pre-game meal. Then it’s just a regular game day from that.”
Montreal and Edmonton released their final depth charts Saturday and both will have game-time decisions. The teams will have up until 30 minutes before kickoff to determine the status of defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson (Alouettes) and offensive tackle Jordan Murray (Elks).
Edmonton is in the Grey Cup for the first time since 2015.
Before the opening kickoff, the legendary Canadian Forces Snowbirds will perform their final public flyover in their CT-114 Tutor jets. The iconic aerial team will fly in formation just as Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan finishes O Canada.
Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor and James Barker Band will provide the pre-game entertainment. American country singer Riley Green will be the featured halftime act.
The game itself is an intriguing matchup.
Montreal’s offence is led by quarterback Alexander, the CFL’s outstanding player this season. And the Alouettes receiving corps features Tyson Philpot (CFL’s top Canadian with 124 catches, 1,809 yards and 13 TDs) and Tyler Snead (95 catches, 1,474 yards, 13 TDs).
Montreal led the CFL in offensive TDs (65), net offence (420.9), second-down conversion (56.7 per cent), average yards per play (7.53) and fewest sacks (19). The Alouettes were also second overall in passing yards (320.6).
Edmonton had the CFL’s top-ranked defence this season. It led in fewest offensive points allowed (23.6) and fewest net offensive yards (338.6), was tied with Hamilton in fewest offensive TDs allowed (44), and was second in both fewest rushing yards (81.4) and passing yards (272.7).
Edmonton also forced a CFL-high 53 turnovers, scored 178 points off turnovers (also tops) and had a plus-23 turnover ratio (first overall). Elks defensive back Tyrell Ford led the CFL in interceptions with seven.
Montreal committed the fewest turnovers (23) and interceptions (six) and sported the league’s second-best turnover ratio (plus-21).
Montreal is the 3.5-point favourite.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2026.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press