Just like that, Week 1 is already almost over.
A shortened opening week in the Canadian Football League will wrap up in the nation’s capital Saturday night as the Ottawa Redblacks play host to the Edmonton Elks.
Watch the Elks take on the Redblacks LIVE at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT across the TSN Network, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Elks will look to carry their momentum and continuity from 2025 into 2026, as head coach Mark Kilam and his squad will aim for a strong start.
Edmonton has a 1-20 record through the team’s first seven games in a season since 2023. They have consistently been playing catch up in the standings for the past three years, leading Kilam to preach urgency from the jump.
“We’re just trying to focus on the things that we can control,” Kilam told the media after Thursday’s final practice.
“We haven’t played yet; we’re going to find out about ourselves. We know what kind of journey we’re on. We know what our goals are inside the room, and now we have to go to the field and see who we’re going to be.”
It’s largely the same group returning from an Elks team that finished the 2025 season 6-5, one of the best stretches of football for the team post-pandemic. Quarterback Cody Fajardo was a big part of that turnaround, and more talent has been added around him, including an old friend in Austin Mack and an improved offensive line.
Mack and Fajardo are reunited after the pair were great together for the Montreal Alouettes in 2023. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound target had his best season as a pro, registering 78 receptions for 1,154 yards and four touchdowns, earning All-CFL honours along the way.
And you can’t forget about running back Justin Rankin, who’s the engine of the offence and the CFL’s premier explosive play threat. The 28-year-old led the league in big plays (17), missed tackles forced (52), and total yards from scrimmage (1,726), and will now run behind a line that features shiny new upgrades in Coulter Woodmansey, Brendan Brodner, and Jordan Murray.
The first look of 2026 for what could be an improved offence comes against a Redblacks defence that features new leaders, in Saskatchewan Roughrider free-agent pickups A.J. Allen, C.J. Reavis, and Habakkuk Baldonado.
It’s a group that also added former all-star corner Demerio Houston and returns one of the better edges in the league in Bryce Carter.
As for Ottawa’s offence, they’ll be led by a new head coach and offensive coordinator in Ryan Dinwiddie, and his new starting quarterback, Jake Maier.
Ahead of the team’s final preseason game, Dinwiddie announced that Maier would be the No.1 quarterback over Dru Brown after serving as the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ backup to Trevor Harris in 2025.
“I think he’s throwing the football well,” said Dinwiddie. “He’s moving better than he has in the past. He did a great job this off-season, really training his body. We need to get him some more reps with the [first-team offence], so that was our decision.”
In the three years before Saskatchewan as the full-time starter in Calgary, Maier completed 68.7 per cent of his passes for 10,474 yards, 55 touchdowns, and 36 interceptions.
He has top-end receivers in Eugene Lewis and Justin Hardy and a new offensive line, featuring No.1 overall pick Giordano Vaccaro, who will make his first start too. Maier’s new running back, Greg Bell, won’t be there, however, and will miss the opener with neck stiffness.
Replacing the 1,000-yard rusher is American Elijah Collins, who’s been in the team’s system for a year on the practice roster. In five years at Michigan State before his final season at Oklahoma State, the 6-foot, 212-pound 25-year-old amassed 353 carries for 1,506 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
They’ll go up against an Edmonton defence that returns a large portion of last year’s squad, led by defensive backs Kordell Jackson and Tyrell Ford, and another former Roughrider free-agent acquisition, Malik Carney.
It’s two teams that are looking to get off on the right foot. Kilam will look to turn Edmonton’s early season struggles around, while Dinwiddie will attempt to start his tenure in the nation’s capital strong with a home win.
