The Canadian Football League’s season opens Thursday with the roster cut-down day occurring over the weekend. Twenty players from six Mountain West schools made rosters. Below is a list of MW players on CFL rosters with those from Nevada receiving expanded writeups.

Nevada players on CFL rosters

QB Cody Fajardo, Edmonton Elks: Fajardo enters his 10th active season in the CFL and second with the Edmonton Elks, although in a different role than he began last year. After entering 2025 as a backup, Fajardo is a presumptive starter this season after another solid campaign last year when he completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 3,408 yards with 14 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also rushed for 319 yards and seven scores. The two-time Grey Cup champion enters his age-34 season as one of the league’s top quarterbacks. He has thrown for 21,406 yards, rushed for 2,810 more and accounted for 145 touchdowns (97 passing, 48 rushing) while being the CFL’s all-time completion percentage leader (71.4 percent).

WR Brendan O’Leary-Orange, Edmonton Elks: One of Fajardo’s top targets this year could be O’Leary-Orange, who like Fajardo lives in Northern Nevada in the offseason and trained with him this winter and spring. O’Leary-Orange enters his fifth CFL season coming off career bests in receptions (22), yards (336) and touchdowns (four) last season with Hamilton where he spent two seasons after a pair of years in Winnipeg. The 6-foot-4 O’Leary-Orange turns 29 later this month and should be entering his athletic prime with a new opportunity in Edmonton, which went 7-11 last season to finish last among five teams in the West Division and could use a few more offensive playmakers.

RB James Butler, BC Lions: After three seasons at Nevada and one at Iowa, Butler had stints with NFL and XFL teams but truly found a home in the CFL where he was been one of the league’s top running backs. Butler has reached the 1,000-yard barrier in three of his five seasons in the CFL. Last year, Butler was third in the CFL with 1,213 rushing yards and tied for the league high with 11 rushing touchdowns, averaging a career-best 5.3 yards per carry as well. Butler is in his second stint with BC after playing for the Lions from 2021-22 and again in 2025 with a two-year stint in Hamilton in between. Butler’s 4,408 rushing yards over the last five seasons ranks among the league leaders during that period.

Other MW players on CFL rosters

Hawaii: OL Dejon Allen (BC); WR Nick Cenacle (BC); QB Brayden Schager (Saskatchewan); OL Asotui Eli (Winnipeg); OL Micah Vanterpool (Winnipeg); DL De’Jon Benton (Hamilton); DL Blessman Ta’ala (Ottawa)

North Dakota State: DB Destin Talbert (Hamilton); WR Zach Mathis (Edmonton); OL Hunter Poncius (Winnipeg – practice squad)

San Jose State: QB Josh Love (Calgary); Soane Toia (Toronto)

UNLV: OL Brett Boyko (Edmonton); OL Tiger Shanks (Montreal)

Wyoming: LB Connor Shay (Winnipeg); LB Robert Priester (Toronto); WR Ayden Eberhardt (Ottawa)

MW schools New Mexico, UTEP, Northern Illinois and Air Force do not have any alums on opening-day CFL rosters.