Just three weeks remain in the Canadian Football League’s 2026 regular season and much is still to be determined ahead of the start of the Grey Cup Playoffs.
Playoff berths, seeding, and tiebreaker scenarios are at the forefront of the action for the final three-week stretch, and it all gets underway with a Friday Night Football doubleheader.
The Edmonton Elks will continue their chase for the West Division title against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, followed by the BC Lions looking to continue their red-hot second half against the winless Ottawa Redblacks.
The action continues into the weekend where the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers battle it out in a crucial matchup that will go a long way in deciding which team will secure the crossover spot in a crowded West Division.
Then the attention turns to the Monday long weekend with he Montreal Alouettes battling the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Thanksgiving Day Classic to cap off the CFL’s jam-packed Week 19 slate.
Here is a look at each game and where you can find them on the TSN network.
Elks vs. Tiger-Cats
Cody Fajardo and the Edmonton Elks head to Hamilton coming off a bye week for a matchup against Harrison Frost and the Tiger-Cats in a rematch from a thrilling overtime affair in Week 16.
Edmonton improved to 11-4 with a 37-35 win over the Tiger-Cats in a two-point shootout in overtime, with Joshua Cephus hauling in the winning score to secure the victory.
Fajardo completed 32 of his 47 pass attempts for 298 yards with a rushing major and an interception and one interception, while kicker Vincent Blanchard set the CFL record with nine field goals to help the Elks to their fifth win over their past six outings.
“I think I’ve got a few more grey hairs after that one,” Elks head coach Mark Kilam said after the victory. “It took a lot of guts, up and down. There’s lots of things to improve on, but the guys found a way.”
The win also served to officially eliminate the Tiger-Cats from playoff contention, securing a crossover year for the 14th time in CFL history.
Hamilton bounced back from the loss with a 34-16 win over the Ottawa Redblacks last time out to snap a five-game losing streak.
Frost threw for 342 yards with two touchdowns, both going to star receiver Kenny Lawler, as the Ticats kept Ottawa winless on the season.
Redblacks vs. Lions
Nathan Rourke and the BC Lions look to keep rolling their way towards a playoff berth as they welcome McLeod Bethel-Thompson and the Ottawa Redblacks to town.
With their 24-17 win over the Toronto Argonauts last time out, the Lions moved to 9-6 on the year to move two points clear for the second seed in the West Division.
It was BC’s third consecutive win and seventh in their past eight games as they continued their torrid stretch following a 1-5 start to the season.
Sean Whyte set a club-record with eight field goals, while the Lions defence made a decisive goal-line stop in the late stages of the game to hold off Toronto and secure the victory.
Despite the victory, Rourke and the Lions offence struggled to finish drives in the end zone, with the reigning Most Outstanding Player shouldering the blame after completing just 46 per cent of his passes against the Argonauts.
“I feel like two out of the three facets of our team really played extremely well,” Rourke said. “Offensively we’ve got to do better and it starts with me.
“This time of year we’ve got to be playing better, we can’t expect to play like that and win. Things to clean up but it’s always good when you can learn from a win rather than a loss.”
Head coach Buck Pierce echoed his quarterback’s comments, citing a “lack of focus” and “some errors mentally and physically.”
Rourke and the Lions offence will get their chance to bounce back against a Redblacks team that has allowed a league-worst 558 points against and recently set a CFL record for the most consecutive losses to open a season with 15 after falling to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week.
No team has ever gone winless over the course of a season in the CFL’s modern era, but the Redblacks are running out of time to avoid making history with just three games left to end the season.
Stampeders vs. Blue Bombers
Vernon Adams Jr. and the Calgary Stampeders get set for a matchup against Brady Oliveira and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in what is shaping up to be one of the most important games of the year for both teams.
Calgary (8-8) and Winnipeg (7-8) occupy the fourth and fifth spots in the West, and with a crossover year looming, this matchup could very well decide the sixth and final playoff team ahead of the Division Semi-Finals later this month.
This Week 19 clash will also serve to give one of these two teams the tiebreaker over the other, with the season series between the Stampeders and Bombers sitting at 1-1.
Calgary took down the Saskatchewan Roughriders last time out, with Adams leading the charge with 242 yards and four passing majors in the 37-31 victory.
The Stampeders have now rattled off three consecutive wins after a 1-4 stretch in the middle of the season, and have played their way right back into playoff contention ahead of the final three weeks of the year.
While Calgary continues to trend upwards in the late stages of the season, Winnipeg has now lost three of their past four games following a 37-10 beatdown at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes last time out.
Roughriders vs. Alouettes
Week 19 in the CFL comes to a close with a rematch of the 112th Grey Cup as the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders go head-to-head in the annual Thanksgiving Day Classic.
Montreal secured their East Division crown last week with win over the Blue Bombers, booking their spot as hosts of the Eastern Final in the process.
This is now the second time the Alouettes have clinched the East title in past three years after they did so in 2024.
Star pass catcher Tyson Philpot had a night to remember against Winnipeg with 11 catches for 207 yards, breaking two CFL records - single-season receiving yards by a Canadian (1,735) and most receptions in a season by a Canadian (119).
While the Alouettes have the top spot in the East locked up, the Roughriders come into the matchup fresh off of a three straight losses and are in desperate need of a win to keep pace in a crowded playoff picture in the West.
Saskatchewan (8-7) have fallen to the Blue Bombers, Lions, and Stampeders in their past three games - all West opponents that are knocking on the door for postseason berths.
The recent cold stretch has kept the Riders at 16 points, now tied with the Stampeders for the crossover spot and just two points up on the last-placed Blue Bombers in the West.
