The Edmonton Elks defeated the Calgary Stampeders 38-28 in their Labour Day game, with Justin Rankin's 50-yard touchdown dash turning the tide of the game with four minutes remaining. The Elks scored 24 points in the final 10 minutes to come from behind and win, improving their record to 9-3 and maintaining their lead at the top of the CFL's West Division. Quarterback Cody Fajardo praised Rankin's performance, saying "He's the human joystick." The game was marked by a dramatic comeback after the Elks trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
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The Edmonton Elks beat the Calgary Stampeders 38-28 in their Labour Day game, with Justin Rankin's 50-yard dash to the end zone giving the Elks their first lead with four minutes remaining. The Elks had been behind by as many as 18 points early in the second half, but scored 24 points in the last 10 minutes of the game to come out on top. This win gives the Elks a record of 9-3, and keeps them atop the CFL's West Division. The team's quarterback, Cody Fajardo, praised Rankin, calling him the "human joystick".
Written for “Battle of Alberta Football” on 2026-09-08,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
What had been a quiet game for the Edmonton Elks’ leading rusher suddenly turned into a roar Monday.
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been → lead → roar
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.
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dash → give → Stampeders
Rankin was minus-1 on four carries until he danced through Calgary defenders to the end zone.
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he → dance → zone
“He was fired up.
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He → fire → ?
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.
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Fajardo → ’ → him
“He’s the human joystick.”
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He → ’ → ?
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.
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Edmonton → score → half
Cole Snyder scored a rushing touchdown with 19 seconds left to put an exclamation mark on the Elks’ third straight victory.
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Snyder → score → 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).
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They → remain → Roughriders
Edmonton’s offence that started sluggishly picked up steam at the same time the skies opened up and dumped rain on McMahon Stadium.
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skies → start → Stadium
“It’s crazy because if you look at the season, some of our best games are in the worst weather,” Rankin observed
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Rankin → ’ → weather
“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.”
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we → shoot → football
Edmonton’s special teams and defence pinned the Stampeders deep in their own zone over the final four minutes.
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teams → pin → minutes
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Trailing by three after Rankin’s scoring run and Vincent Blanchard’s convert, the hosts never got close to scoring or field-goal range.
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hosts → get → scoring
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.
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who → catch → 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.
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Fajardo → believe → us
“We know we can play four quarters and we’ve got a chance to win any game.
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we → know → 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.
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Blanchard → kick → 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.
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which → catch → half
Rene Paredes kicked field goals from 36 and 42 yards and three convert points in front of an announced 16,346.
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Paredes → kick → 16,346
Made some plays, but then we had some big mistakes as well,” Stampeders head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson said.
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Dickenson → make → mistakes
“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.”
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we → have → that
Fajardo completed 17 of 31 pass attempts for 181 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
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Fajardo → complete → passes
He was intercepted once.
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He → intercept → ?
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.
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Jr. → sit → throws
Adams took a helmet to his head late in the first quarter.
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Adams → take → 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.
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latter → penalize → down
Adams remained in the game.
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Adams → remain → 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.
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which → guste → Hornets
The Stampeders led 18-7 at halftime on the strength of a pair of touchdowns off a Fajardo interception and fumble.
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Stampeders → lead → interception
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.
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offence → trail → zone
Edmonton’s Kordell Jackson stripped Barnes of the ball on the subsequent drive after the Stampeder caught a downfield pass.
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Stampeder → strip → 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.
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Elks → recover → touchdown
The Elks host the Stampeders on Saturday in the second game of the home and home.
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Elks → host → home
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
