The Edmonton Elks keep finding ways to win ugly, and after Sunday's win over Calgary, nobody in the locker room seemed bothered by that one bit. A fumble recovery turned the game on its head, a 50-yard run from Justin Rankin blew it open, and a defense that didn't blink over the final four minutes closed it out. Three straight wins now for Edmonton, and two of them came after clawing back from big deficits.
Quarterback Cody Fajardo, running back Justin Rankin and head coach Mark Kilam all sat down after the game, and the story from all three was the same: this team doesn't panic, no matter how bad conditions get or how ugly the first half looks.
The Turnover That Flipped the Game
Ball security was a talking point going into the game, and it bit Edmonton early. But when Cordell stripped the ball from Burns, it swung everything in the Elks' favor.
"Yeah, it was huge. I mean, we got points off that turnover. We talked about that too, how we lead the league in points off turnovers," Fajardo said. "I feel like the weather played a bigger factor than what people I think would realize. Just that constant rain and guys are just — it's just harder to protect the ball."
Kilam saw it the same way — a bad break turned into fuel.
"Turn a negative into a positive, you know what I mean? It was one of those, a big play for them. You know, it's something that we talk about all the time. A couple of tough turnovers on our part. We'll go back and look and see what we can do better. And that's football," Kilam said. "The fact that you can rally and overcome from some of those things, I think that's what we'll take out of this one."
Rankin Breaks Free — And Gets a New Nickname
Rankin had a quiet night running the ball until he broke a 50-yarder that changed the complexion of the game. Fajardo didn't hold back on the praise afterward, dropping a nickname that Rankin apparently hadn't heard yet.
"He's the human joystick," Fajardo said. Asked if Rankin knows about the nickname, Fajardo laughed: "I don't know. Maybe when he sees this interview. I'll ask him about it."
Rankin, for his part, seemed happy to hear it secondhand in the locker room. "I appreciate him. I love Cody. That's my guy," Rankin said when told what his quarterback called him. As for the run itself, he credited the team's refusal to fold when the ground game wasn't working early.
"I just think we're a very persistent team. Like, you know, we're a 60-minute team. Whatever it takes. It doesn't always look the prettiest. It's not always the sexiest, but we always find a way to win and we believe in each other," Rankin said.
He admitted getting stuffed for stretches wasn't fun, but he never lost faith in the group around him. "It sucks when you're kind of getting stuffed and, you know, it's kind of eliminating the whole side of the offense, right? But we got guys, we got a lot of guys that can make plays — from the receiver room, shoot back to Shonderrick Powell, who came in and gave us a spark in the run game," Rankin said. "It's a never count us out type of attitude."
Slow Start, Fast Finish
Edmonton's offense didn't get rolling until conditions got worse, not better. Fajardo pointed to first-down efficiency as the difference between the two halves.
"We felt like in the first half, the key to winning this ball game was first down efficiency. The first half, we were in too many second and longs. Their defensive line is very talented, one of the best in my opinion in the league. Second and long, they get to pin their ears back," Fajardo said. "In the second half, we are much better on first down. Second and 5, second and 4. We were able to stay on the field a couple 10-play drives, which gave our defense rest."
Rankin took it a step further, suggesting the Elks might actually want bad weather at this point. "If you look at this season, some of our best games are in the worst weather. I hate the rain, but at this point, maybe we need some rain, some snow, because that's when we play our best football," Rankin said. "The weather might not be very good in November here... we ready for that."
Kilam was a little more measured on the weather theory but didn't dismiss it outright, pointing to wind as a factor late. "We've had a few games in the rain this year, but, you know, we had the wind in the fourth. And that played a factor as well," he said.
Defense Slams the Door Late
With four minutes left, Calgary never got into scoring position, let alone field goal range. Kilam credited a two-phase effort — special teams pinning Calgary deep and the defense taking advantage of miserable conditions on punt returns.
"Our special teams pinned them down there. It was part of it. I thought we had them on their heels a bit when they were trying to field the kicks. It was tricky out there. It's tough conditions, wind and rain in your face, kind of coming at an angle," Kilam said. "I think it was two phases that were contributing to that. And we were moving the ball on offense as well."
What It Means Going Forward
Three wins in a row, two of them comebacks from real deficits — that's a pattern now, not a coincidence. Rankin summed up the belief inside the building simply: "We know what kind of football team that we've been and what kind of football team we can be regardless of some of the losses... we're a team that truly believes in each other and believes we belong."
Kilam, ever the coach, wasn't interested in the momentum talk so much as the process behind it. "I think, you know, momentum is a funny thing. It's more about we try to go 1-0 every week," he said. "We're going to celebrate this one. We're going to pick up the pieces... and come together and put the best roster out and try to go do it again at home."
Fajardo left no doubt about what these last two comeback wins mean for belief in that locker room. "Guys believe when you have games like this and games like Winnipeg, they start to believe that no score is too big for us. We know we can play four quarters and we got a chance to win any game."
Watch the Full Videos
Edmonton Elks: POST GAME | QB Cody Fajardo | 09.07.26
Edmonton Elks: POST GAME | RB Justin Rankin | 09.07.26
Edmonton Elks: POST GAME | HC Mark Kilam | 09.07.26