Western Final: Edmonton Elks vs. BC Lions, Digi Mart USA News: The Edmonton Elks host the BC Lions on Saturday with a trip to the 113th Grey Cup on the line. The 6:30 p.m.
ET kickoff can be watched on TSN, RDS and CFL+.
The BC Lions and Edmonton Elks are both one win away from the 113th Grey Cup, and it has been a long time since either team reached that point. The Lions last appeared in the championship game in 2011, after starting that season 0-5, and they defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to win the trophy.
Edmonton last appeared in 2015, when the Elks defeated Ottawa to win the Grey Cup; that was also the last season the Elks hosted the Western Final.
There are parallels between those championship seasons and this year’s teams. The Lions started 1-5 in 2026 before staging a turnaround, and Edmonton is hosting the Western Final for the first time since 2015.
Could one of these teams be headed toward a similar finish?
Malik Carney was one of the league’s most disruptive pass rushers this season. In his first year in Edmonton, he finished second in sacks (11) and pressures (68), trailing only Calgary’s Clarence Hicks (12 sacks, 91 pressures) in both categories.
He also recorded three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles, three pass knockdowns and 33 defensive tackles. Teammate Noah Taylor added 10 sacks on the season.
Linebacker Nick Anderson said, “I feel like D-linemen are the unsung heroes.” He noted that defensive tackle Jared Brinkman may not have shown up on the stat sheet as much as the pair on the edge, but was just as disruptive in 2026. “When you have edge rushers like Malik Carney and Noah Taylor, the offensive linemen are so occupied with those guys that it allows us (linebackers) to play more freely and be able to make plays,” Anderson continued.
The Elks’ front four presents an interesting matchup against the Lions, who struggled to keep pass rushers at bay in the regular season. BC was tied with Ottawa for the second-most sacks allowed this year, with 37.
Can the Lions’ offensive line keep pressure away from Rourke on Saturday?
The game features two of the top quarterbacks in the CFL. The Elks’ Cody Fajardo was nominated for this year’s George Reed Most Outstanding Player award.
The Lions’ Nathan Rourke was a nominee for this year’s Most Outstanding Canadian award and won both the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian awards last season.
Statistically, the matchup is close. Fajardo threw for 4,788 yards this season, compared with Rourke’s 4,614 (in two fewer games).
Fajardo threw 25 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions, while Rourke completed 24 touchdown passes and threw 10 interceptions. Rourke posted a 70.5 percent completion rate to Fajardo’s 69.3 percent.
Rourke averages 10.4 yards per attempt to Fajardo’s 8.7, stretching the field more.
The main difference between the two is championship experience. Fajardo has won a Grey Cup, most recently leading Montreal to the 110th Grey Cup, and he also won one as a backup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2017.
Rourke has never played in a Grey Cup, but he is dangerous whenever he takes the field because of his ability to find receivers downfield and extend plays with his legs. “I just know Nathan is an electric player,” Fajardo said.
“He’s really hard to tackle. A lot of his explosions come from breaking a tackle in the box and throwing the ball downfield.”
On their way to the top of the West Division, the Elks made Commonwealth Stadium a difficult place to play. They finished the regular season 8-1 at home, with five straight victories at Commonwealth to close the 2026 campaign.
The Elks announced that more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s contest and that the upper bowl has opened for the third time this season. “In football there’s a lot of communication, especially in no-huddle, which is something that BC likes to do a lot of,” Fajardo said.
“Especially in no-huddle, when our defence is on the field and they’re (the crowd) loud (it’s important).”
Last week’s Western Semi-Final was a tale of two halves for the BC Lions. In the first half, the Lions had eight possessions that resulted in two turnovers and five kicks.
They started the second half with four straight scoring drives, two touchdowns and two field goals, outscoring the Riders 20-9 in the final 30 minutes. Rourke said his team “needed to get on the same page” and did so on the way to defeating the Roughriders.
The Lions were down 14 at one point last week, and that resilience could be important on Saturday if they trail at any point.
