The Elks wrap up their 2-game set with the Blue Bombers, this time in Winnipeg, to start the Friday night doubleheader. The Ford brothers — Tre Ford at quarterback with Edmonton and Tyrell Ford in the secondary with Winnipeg — won't get to make more memories since McLeod Bethel-Thompson is back as the Edmonton starting QB.
CBS Sports Network has a rare telecast in the second half of the season.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats start up around their bedtime in traveling to Vancouver for the Friday night matchup. The Lions are coming off a bye with no travel, hoping to do better against the other southern Ontario team.
Nathan Rourke gets the start for the Lions at quarterback. This would have been the first time in 2024 that 2 Canadian quarterbacks started in the CFL, except that Ford isn't starting. Bo Levi Mitchell has better memories of BC Place than the rest of the team in this cat battle.
The Ottawa RedBlacks spent its summer playing West teams and gets to relive those times at Saskatchewan in the CTV Saturday afternoon contest. Maybe one of these teams will win, given the tie the last time they played. Given the CTV history, they should refer to the teams as Red Riders and Green Riders.
The Saturday nightcap feels more like Hockey Night in Canada with Montréal in Toronto at the time they normally play in hockey. This contest determines the tiebreaker between the teams, though the Argos can't catch the Alouettes.
Calgary gets to enjoy an early fall weekend, which could supply cool weather, such as single digits Celsius last week.
CBS Sports Network
Friday
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p
CTV
Saturday
Ottawa @ Saskatchewan, 3p
TSN
Friday
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p
Hamilton @ BC, 10:30p
Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
Bye week: Calgary
The tension at McMahon Stadium was thicker than an elk steak (which is a very good local delicacy, medium rare). Saskatchewan had gone 0-6-1 while Calgary had gone 0-5-1. They could tie but what would happen if one of these teams actually won a game?
The Roughriders were struggling with the running game so they signed running back Ryquell (Rock) Armstead, released by Ottawa. Armstead had an incredible debut with 207 rushing yards on 25 carries. Armstead had a balanced attack in each half, as you can see in the above graphic.
The running mark was the best in the CFL since Calgary running back Jon Cornish (Canadian) rushed for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Winnipeg in 2013.
Trevor Harris went 16-for-18 for 248 yards for Saskatchewan.
Backup Calgary quarterback Tommy Stevens had the only major for the Stampeders in the first half with a 69-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. The play came on a short yardage situation, Stevens' specialty for Calgary.
Jake Maier was proficient with 25-for-31 yet only 197 passing yards for the Stampeders. The team did come close in the second half. While Saskatchewan can breathe a bit easier, Calgary's futility continues and with a bye week, the stew only has more time to cook.
The schedule makers place Ottawa in Regina on the CTV game Saturday afternoon. Armstead will get to see some old friends with the RedBlacks.
The most adamant Montréal Alouettes fan wouldn't call the win over Ottawa anything like An Eye for Beauty | Le règne de la beauté (also the title for the Denys Arcand 2014 Canadian film).
"This felt like a playoff game," said Montréal quarterback Cody Fajardo after the game. "Our defence played incredible, our special teams played awesome and our offence did enough to win the football game. We've just got to clean some things up and I think we're well on our way." Fajardo went 16-for-27 in the air for 226 yards and scored a rushing touchdown.
The Alouettes defence only gave up a 3rd-quarter touchdown to the RedBlacks. Montréal's Dionte Ruffin got a Pick-6 off of Dru Brown for 79 yards for a touchdown.
Ottawa finished up with Jeremiah Masoli after starting quarterback Dru Brown aggravated an ankle injury late in the second quarter. There were a few minor injuries. The linebacker core has been rocked with injuries, especially linebacker Adarius Pickett, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury the previous week.
Brown was 8-for-16 for 69 yards with 2 interceptions. Masoli went 17-for-26 for 218 yards and the lone touchdown for Ottawa.
The RedBlacks took 11 penalties for 137 yards. Ottawa has a 2-game losing streak for the first time this season.
Brady Oliveira had been pretty patient in not scoring a rushing touchdown in 2024. The Winnipeg star running back took care of that in Edmonton with 2 rushing touchdowns, finishing with 127 yards on 18 carries. Oliveira now has 1,021 yards on the season.
Tre Ford had a rough time in his return as the Elks starting quarterback with a fumble and 2 interceptions. Ford went 10-for-17 for 131 yards. We did make reference to the twin battle with Winnipeg cornerback Tyrell Ford, who didn't have any interceptions from his brother. The teams do meet on Friday, a rare CBS Sports Network TV appearance in the second half of the season.
Edmonton did get help from Justin Rankin with 157 rushing yards on 14 attempts.
The Elks (5-9) lost for just the second time in 7 games. However, Edmonton has to try and beat the Blue Bombers, the team that has won 10 in a row against the Elks.
The teams got off to a slow start on offence: 3 points (Winnipeg) in the first 35 minutes of the game and a 10-10 tie through 3 quarters.
Marc Liegghio kicked 6 field goals in all, including the game winner from 48 yards out, to keep some hope in Hamilton for the CFL playoffs. The Ticats swept the season series with the Argonauts for the first time since 2019.
Those field goals came in great part because of the play calling in the red zone. For those whining about the rouge in the last few minutes of a CFL game, a Liegghio miss would have tied the game at 31.
Lirim Hajrullahu's 28-yard field goal put Toronto up 31-30 with 56 seconds on the clock.
Hamilton starter Bo Levi Mitchell is now 15-2 in his career against Toronto, finishing 31-for-40 for 362 yards and a touchdown.
No fan base is as loud and proud in a road contest as Hamilton fans are in Toronto. The Tiger-Cats helped the Argos draw a crowd of 18,210 at BMO Field on a Friday night.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the only current CFL franchise to have never won a Grey Cup in the 21st century, winning the title in 1999.
Montréal clinched a home playoff game with a win over the RedBlacks. The Alouettes technically did this with a Hamilton win over the Toronto Argonauts. Montréal (11-2-1) has a 3-game lead on Ottawa (8-5-1) and the Argos can't catch the Alouettes.
Montréal is undefeated on the road with a trip to Toronto (7-7), a tough place to play. Hamilton is 5-9 yet 3-0 against Toronto. The Tiger-Cats are 2 games behind Toronto with 4 to play with the tiebreaker. Hamilton plays 3 West teams down the stretch while Toronto plays 2 West teams.
The RedBlacks can clinch a playoff berth with a win or losses from Hamilton and Edmonton.
Winnipeg (8-6) is in rather good shape in the driver's seat in the West. The Blue Bombers have the tiebreaker with every division team except for Edmonton and have a +13 going into the other game tonight. The Blue Bombers need a win for a playoff spot. Winnipeg has made the playoffs 7 years in a row.
The BC Lions (7-7) have a ½ game edge on Saskatchewan (6-7-1), which snapped a 7-game winless streak in defeating Calgary.
The 2 Alberta teams are below the playoffs line with tough losses last week. Edmonton (5-9) travels to Winnipeg, winners of 6 in a row, while Calgary (4-9-1) gets to reflect on the CFL equivalent of an early golf season in the NHL (skiing?).
Dave Naylor discusses the potential for a first-time East team as a crossover to the West.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is Monday, September 30. We have seen the CFL step up in recent years with Indigenous logo designs created by Indigenous people.
Calgary has the week off but the Stampeders wore theirs 2 weeks ago when hosting Montréal.
We haven't and won't give up on the Atlantic Schooners as a 10th team in the CFL. We noted Northwestern University's new temporary football field that is about as close to the water (Lake Michigan) as the water is to the San Francisco Giants ballpark.
The Wildcats are rebuilding their football stadium further inland in Evanston, Illinois. They transformed their practice field and built seats surrounding the field.
The capacity is about 15,000, not much smaller than what is possible in Halifax for the HFX Wanderers FC, the Atlantic Schooners, and possibly the Saint Mary's University Huskies football team. You might recall that Touchdown Atlantic 2023 was placed on the Saint Mary's University campus.
The CFL stadiums in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg are tied into university football in those cities.
The Northwestern people made the transition in a matter of months. Admittedly, they had a field in place and just built around that facility. Imagine needing a year to build a nice, permanent facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Concerts and other outdoor events can justify the cost.
Hamilton @ Toronto: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Matthew Scianitti
Saskatchewan @ Calgary: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Claire Hanna
Montréal @ Ottawa: Marshall Ferguson/Matt Dunigan/Kenzie Lalonde
Winnipeg @ Edmonton: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Ryan Rishaug
The CFL on TSN put their top east crew on the game that seemingly didn't count as much in the CFL standings. There might have been other forces at work, such as not traveling to Ottawa. Speaking of Ottawa, Claire Hanna ended up in Calgary, the only CFL market without a regular TSN sideline person. Kenzie Lalonde made a quick side trip down Highway 417 to Ottawa.
We assume the soundtrack in the car with Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor features a lot of country music going from Calgary to Edmonton.
Jim Barker filled in on the panel for both days while Henoc Muamba came in on Saturday. Paul LaPolice did segments from the studio.
The CFL on CTV game drew decent numbers if you count RDS. The combined total of 548,800 (317,800 CTV and 231,000 RDS) was stronger than either of the Friday night games. [Hamilton at Toronto — 431,600; Saskatchewan at Calgary — 452,600].
The battle of the Ford brothers — Winnipeg at Edmonton — drew the best crowd at 640,800.
The true measurement comes for the playoffs when CTV and TSN carry the East playoff games and the Grey Cup.
logo credit: CFL
photo credit: TSN/CFL
Twitter captures: @CFLFansToronto; @nielsonTSN1260; @kcostabile1; @CFLonTSN; @FOS
