Week 19 ended and has given Week 20 even more intrigue, as the Alouettes’ chances at first in the East stayed alive and the Elks stayed alive with a huge home win over the Bombers.

And Calgary, BC and Winnipeg are all still battling for second place in the West and home field come playoff time in two weeks!

The Roughriders are the only team heading to the post-season that truly knows what their playoff plans are. The Riders win over Toronto locked them into hosting the Western Final on November 8, and allows them the luxury to rest a few starters down the stretch, if they so choose.

That could be great news for their next two opponents (Winnipeg and BC).

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SASKATCHEWAN AT WINNIPEG

Friday, October 17
8:00 p.m. ET
TSN/CFL+

Let’s start there, shall we? The Roughriders appear to be parking Trevor Harris for at least this week in Winnipeg as Jake Maier was taking over the offence on day one of practice. Harris wasn’t the only one, with over half of the offensive starters from this past Friday’s game taking a significant reduction in practice participation.

The defence was intact for the most part, however.

The thing is though, all of the Roughriders’ roster has had to play, so the guys who aren’t regular starters either have started games this season or in previous seasons.

The Bombers should have a lot more urgency to their game this week, as dropping this game would put them in a precarious situation going into the last week of the season.

I expect to see another healthy dose of Brady Oliveira, like we saw last week against the Elks. And a lot sharper Zach Collaros, who definitely has had better days than what he played in Edmonton.

What do I expect from the Roughriders? A group who is hungry to keep the momentum going with the added sweetness of potentially sweeping the season series against the Bombers.

My concern is if the Riders change some players along the offensive line, Willie Jefferson and company will create some issues.

PICK: WINNIPEG

EDMONTON AT BC

Friday, October 17
10:30 p.m. ET
TSN/CFL+

The Elks are not going away!

The Elks are 6-3 in their last nine games. The BC Lions are also 6-3 in their last nine games.

The Lions dominated the Elks in the first two meetings much earlier in the season, but I don’t think it’ll be as easy this time out.

The problem the Elks will have on Friday night is going up against the hottest quarterback in the league, as Nathan Rourke has climbed to the top of the Most Outstanding Player conversation.

The defensive line of the Lions has become a menace and the Elks have a short week of prep with the Lions coming fresh off a bye week.

I think the Elks will give the Lions a run on Friday night, but I still have the Lions continuing their hot streak and make it a fifth straight win.

PICK: BC

MONTREAL AT OTTAWA

Saturday, October 18
3:00 p.m. ET
TSN/RDS/CTV/CFL+

The Alouettes dodged a major bullet to have Davis Alexander finish Monday’s game as things did not look good for the quarterback going into the half.

But Alexander has shown he’s tough throughout his young career, and remains undefeated as a starter heading into Ottawa. The REDBLACKS are playing out the string, and we’ll see what they have for a response after the 30-10 loss to the Alouettes on WestJet Thanksgiving Weekend.

I’ll expect a bit more from Ottawa as teams usually play better at home after a loss to the same team the previous week on the road, but the Alouettes, like the Lions, are playing some extremely high-calibre football at the right time of year.

The Tiger-Cats also have the bye week, so the Alouettes can keep their first place hopes alive with a win. Which I think they’ll do.

PICK: MONTREAL

TORONTO AT CALGARY

Saturday, October 18
7:00 p.m. ET
TSN/CFL+

The Argonauts have a bye week in Week 21 so this will be it for the defending Grey Cup champions on their 2025 season.

I was impressed by Ryan Dinwiddie’s team in Saskatchewan. With no playoff chances to play for, they still gave the best team in the league quite the scare, with a chance to win that game late.

It’ll be interesting to see how Dinwiddie lines up his roster with many regulars already taking a back seat, even though most are due to injury.

Calgary, meanwhile, needs to win to potentially keep their home playoff hopes alive.

There’s also still potentially a scenario that could see the Elks eliminate the Stampeders on the last week of the season in their head-to-head match, if the Stamps lose this weekend.

So Calgary has plenty to play for and after a fantastic road victory in Hamilton this past week, I’m interested to see if they’re getting their groove back after that woeful four game losing streak.

PICK: CALGARY