EDMONTON – The Edmonton Elks put a halt to their two-game losing streak, with a statement 42-12 victory over the Toronto Argonauts at Play Alberta Field at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday (Aug. 15) afternoon.

In their most lopsided win in more than a decade, the Elks got touchdowns from Joshua Cephus, Justin Rankin, JJ Ross and Cole Snyder, while Edmonton kicker Vincent Blanchard knocked home all four of his field goal attempts.

Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 25 of 31 passes for 301 yards and rushed for 50 yards for the Elks, who erupted for a 31-point second half after leading 11-9 at halftime.

“The leadership in the room, they deserve the credit,” Elks coach Mark Kilam said. “They just came out with a single mindset to come get it done, (and) that’s what they did.”

Rankin made four receptions for 61 yards to go with 47 yards on 16 rush attempts. Edmonton’s Javon Leake rushed for a game-high 58 yards.

Toronto got its lone touchdown from quarterback Nick Arbuckle. Argos kicker Brady Lidster was two-for-four on field goals.

The Elks out-gained Toronto 431 yards to 287 yards in net offence, and forced six turnovers from the visitors, including a pair of interceptions picked off by Ross.

Toronto took a 3-0 lead, getting a 36-yard field goal from Lidster on its opening possession. Edmonton answered with a 52-yard field goal from Blanchard, then went ahead 4-3 on a Blanchard single.

Fajardo RUNS it downfield for the first down! 🌬️#GoElks pic.twitter.com/9tveMwmkwT

— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) August 15, 2026

After a CFL career-long 44-yard rush by Fajardo took the Elks into the red zone, Cole Snyder scored on a one-yard QB sneak, and Edmonton went ahead 11-3 in the second quarter. Arbuckle plunged for a one-yard touchdown, but the Elks stopped Toronto’s subsequent two-point convert attempt, and Edmonton took an 11-9 lead into halftime.

On the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Edmonton’s Richard Jibunor forced a fumble by Janarion Grant that Brock Morgensen recovered at the Toronto 34-yard line, setting the tone for a dominant second half by the Green and Gold.

The Elks led 24-12 lead after the third quarter, which saw Rankin rumble eight yards for his eighth rushing touchdown of 2026.

Early in the fourth quarter, Edmonton’s defence came up with a huge stop on third and inches for the Argos at their own 27, forcing a turnover on downs. Fajardo then connected with Cephus on a 10-yard touchdown pass, as the Elks extended their lead to 31-12.

Edmonton put the game away with less than nine minutes to play, when Ross picked off Argos quarterback Chad Kelly at the Elks 26-yard-line and took it to the house. Blanchard tacked on a field goal from 24 yards with less than two minutes to play.

The win was Edmonton’s first by 30 or more points since defeating the BC Lions 37-3 at Commonwealth Stadium on Nov. 1, 2014.

Edmonton improves to 7-3 and momentarily sits second in the CFL West Division, with the opportunity to move into first should the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday night.

“We know we’re a top team in this league,” Fajardo said. “We know as long as we play our brand of football, we can win. But there was no panic this week, guys just knew we needed to energize and if we play our brand of football we’d have a good chance of winning this game, and sure enough we won all three phases tonight.”

The Elks are back in action on Friday (Aug. 21), when they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 7:30 p.m. (MT) at Commonwealth Stadium. Tickets for all remaining Elks home games are available now.