CALGARY — What had been a quiet game for the Edmonton Elks’ leading rusher suddenly turned into a roar Monday. Justin Rankin’s 50-yard dash to the end zone gave the Elks their first lead of the Labour Day game with four minutes remaining in a 38-28 win over the host Calgary Stampeders. Rankin was minus-1 on four carries until he danced through Calgary defenders to the end zone. “He was fired up. It’s nice when you get to hand the ball off and point at the end zone and watch him,” Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo said. “He’s the human joystick.” Edmonton (9-3) scored 24 points in the last 10 minutes of the game and erased an 18-point deficit from early in the second half. Cole Snyder scored a rushing touchdown with 19 seconds left to put an exclamation mark on the Elks’ third straight victory. They remained atop the CFL’s West Division and ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-4), the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions (6-6) and Stampeders (5-7). Edmonton’s offence that started sluggishly picked up steam at the same time the skies opened up and dumped rain on McMahon Stadium. “It’s crazy because if you look at the season, some of our best games are in the worst weather,” Rankin observed. “So shoot, maybe I hate the rain, but at this point, maybe we need some rain, some snow, because that’s when we play our best football.” Edmonton’s special teams and defence pinned the Stampeders deep in their own zone over the final four minutes. Trailing by three after Rankin’s scoring run and Vincent Blanchard’s convert, the hosts never got close to scoring or field-goal range. Kaion Julien-Grant and Austin Mack caught touchdown passes and ShunDerrick Powell scored a rushing touchdown for the Elks, who had overcome a 16-point deficit to beat the Blue Bombers in their previous game. “Guys believe when you have games like this and games like Winnipeg, they start to believe that no score is too big for us,” Fajardo said. “We know we can play four quarters and we’ve got a chance to win any game.” Blanchard kicked a 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, to improve to four-for-five from 50 yards out or more, and added five convert points. Jalen Philpot and Clark Barnes caught touchdown passes and Quincy Vaughn scored on a short-yardage plunge for Calgary, which led 25-7 early in the second half. Rene Paredes kicked field goals from 36 and 42 yards and three convert points in front of an announced 16,346. “Up 25-7, there’s a good chance to win that ball game. Made some plays, but then we had some big mistakes as well,” Stampeders head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson said. “We have to look in the mirror but also take a big breath and understand we just can’t play football like that if we want to win.” Fajardo completed 17 of 31 pass attempts for 181 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. He was intercepted once. After sitting out a win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with a concussion, Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was 15 for 29 in passing for 214 yards and a pair of touchdown throws. Adams took a helmet to his head late in the first quarter. Edmonton linebacker Nick Anderson was penalized for roughing the passer when his helmet connected with Adams’ as the latter slid to the turf for a first down. Adams remained in the game. Low cloud, winds gusting to 41 kilometres per hour and a temperature of 12 Celsius were weather conditions at kickoff, which was preceded by a flyover by two CF-18 Hornets. The Stampeders led 18-7 at halftime on the strength of a pair of touchdowns off a Fajardo interception and fumble. But trailing by 14 with 10 minutes remaining in the game, Edmonton’s offence went to work chewing up the deficit with a six-play, 70-yard drive capped by Powell’s three-yard charge to the end zone. Edmonton’s Kordell Jackson stripped Barnes of the ball on the subsequent drive after the Stampeder caught a downfield pass. The Elks recovered and converted that turnover into Blanchard’s 52-yard field goal to trail by four, followed by Rankin’s game-winning touchdown. UP NEXT The Elks host the Stampeders on Saturday in the second game of the home and home. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2026. Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
