Outside of Grey Cup week, Labour Day weekend is the greatest time of the CFL season.
The air gets a little crisper, the days get a little shorter and the games just feel more intense as the playoff picture begins to take shape. It’s a time of year when tradition shines and the league’s most heated rivalries are renewed.
The schedule kicks off on Sunday, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers travelling to Mosaic Stadium to take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The 8-2 Riders have been dominant through the first half of the season and are looking to solidify their hold on the West Division.
Meanwhile, the Bombers are looking to play catch-up. A win this weekend, followed by another in the Banjo Bowl rematch, would see them leapfrog Saskatchewan in the standings.
Monday then offers a doubleheader of inter-provincial rivalries, starting with the Battle of Ontario, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, sitting atop the East Division, host the Toronto Argonauts. The Argos stunned the league last week with a convincing 52-34 victory over the B.C. Lions — a win that breathed new life into their playoff hopes.
Wrapping up the weekend is the Battle of Alberta, with the Calgary Stampeders hosting the Edmonton Elks. The Stamps are riding high after their win over the Riders, but they’ll be facing an Elks club that is also feeling good about itself after a slow start, coming into this one on a three-game win streak.
Although the weekend is setting up nicely, there is one minor issue — moving the weekend from a four-game to a three-game schedule feels like a missed opportunity.
While it made sense to end the annual clash between the Lions and Montreal Alouettes in previous years, with Montreal and Ottawa just a 90-minute drive from each other, why not start an annual Redblacks-Alouettes tilt? It feels like an easy way to inject some more excitement into rivalry weekend and, hopefully, it’s something they consider for next year.
Now, let’s check what else got my attention this week in the latest edition of the CFL Rundown.
Christopher Katsarov / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira had a breakout performance against the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday, racking up a team-leading 200 total yards from scrimmage.
1) For weeks, fans have been waiting for a breakout performance from the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player. They got it against a stingy Alouettes defence, as Brady Oliveira racked up more than 200 total yards from the line of scrimmage. He had a season-high 137 rushing yards on 16 carries and caught all nine of his passes for a team-best 73 yards.
It was the kind of performance that reminded everyone why he’s considered among the league’s top talents. Backed by stellar protection from the offensive line, Oliveira was particularly dangerous as the game wore on — scoring a crucial touchdown and then helping seal the win with several punishing runs to drain the clock.
If the Bombers are going to get back to a sixth straight Grey Cup, they’ll need more of this in the second half of the season.
2) For a second week in a row, I’m writing that the Alouettes are in serious trouble.
While James Morgan — making his first CFL start — looked good in a relief effort the week prior, he came crashing back down to earth in the loss to the Bombers.
This latest defeat marks the Alouettes fourth straight loss, dropping them below .500, at 5-6.
What looked like a safe spot in second place in the East now feels anything but, with both Toronto and Ottawa just two games behind, each at 3-8. Head coach Jason Maas’s decision to play quarterback Davis Alexander early from a hamstring injury in Week 7 against the Argonauts is still leading the league for bone-headed decision of the year.
It might just cost Montreal a playoff berth.
DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas’s decision to play No. 1 quarterback Davis Alexander early from a hamstring injury in Week 7 against the Argonauts might have cost Montreal a playoff berth.
3) While the Alouettes are trending downwards, the Edmonton Elks have started to turn things around — earning a third consecutive win with a victory over the Redblacks.
At 4-6, the Elks are now one game back of the Lions for the fourth spot in the West.
The resurgence of Cody Fajardo has been one of the best stories of the season, with the veteran quarterback showing he has plenty of gas left in the tank. But I caution against getting too excited about what’s happening in Edmonton, given the Elks’ last three victories have come against the struggling Redblacks, Argos and Alouettes.
The Elks will need to do some damage against the West to prove they’re for real, and there’s no better time for that than the present, with a home-and-home series against the Stampeders on deck.
4) It feels like the end for the Redblacks, even if they still have some runway left to get the season back on track. Like Montreal, Ottawa has a major problem at quarterback.
Dru Brown is expected to miss more time, and they lack the depth behind centre to climb out of the mess.
The Redblacks are currently on a bye before returning for back-to-back games against the Lions.
With the threat of a crossover to the East from the West looming, and Toronto having recently crushed B.C., nothing short of consecutive victories against the Lions will be required for the Redblacks to be playing meaningful football in the fall.
5) Few people would have expected the Nick Arbuckle-led Argonauts to put up 50 points on the Lions, but that’s exactly what happened.
Well, actually, it was 52. It wasn’t all because of the Argos quarterback — the defence returned an interception for a touchdown — but Arbuckle was certainly a big part of it, throwing for a career-high 443 passing yards and three touchdowns.
That production was particularly impressive when you consider the Argos were without their top receiver Damonte Coxie.
While I’ve been critical of Toronto this season, I do see a path to better days. If the Argos can beat the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton this week (a big if), they then have the bye, followed by games against the Elks and Alouettes at home, and then B.C. on the road.
If the Argos can go on a run, we could be talking playoffs by the end of September. If anyone is going to put pressure on the potential West crossover, it’s going to be the Double Blue.
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6) So much for the momentum built up by the Lions following wins over the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes.
It looked as though B.C. was well on its way to a third straight victory, leading the Argos 14-3 after the first quarter, only for the wheels to loosen in the second quarter before completely falling off in the second half.
While Nathan Rourke started the game looking unstoppable and ended it looking pedestrian, the blame falls squarely on the Mike Benevides-run defence.
From early in the second quarter to the early stages of the fourth frame, the Argonauts scored touchdowns on five of six drives to run away with the game.
The Lions need to fix their defensive issues as soon as possible; the good news is they have the opportunity with the bye this week to come back better focused on that side of the ball.
7) Some advice: don’t bet against the Stampeders when coming off the bye.
Much as they did against the Bombers earlier this year, the Stamps took full advantage of the added rest in their win over the Roughriders. Calgary looked poised early on, but Saskatchewan held in tough, rebounding from a 14-2 deficit early in the second quarter to lead by a point at halftime.
The Stamps seemed to take things personally over the break, shutting out the Riders in the final two quarters to secure the win.
The Riders have had a stellar season, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that their two losses this year have come against the Stamps. And with none of the three games against Winnipeg having been played yet, we should get a clearer picture of their greatness in the coming weeks.
JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Calgary Stampeders running back Dedrick Mills evades a tackle during the Stamps 32-15 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday. The Stampeders swept both season series against the Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
8) Who had the Stampeders being 5-0 against the Bombers and Roughriders on their 2025 bingo card?
What a turnaround it’s been in Cowtown, and a ton of credit belongs to head coach Dave Dickenson and his staff. Calgary fears no one and its off-season acquisitions, notably quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., have worked wonders. Calgary is the real deal and back in the spotlight for the first time since the turn of the decade.
9) I want to extend my sincere condolences following the passing of longtime CFL scout Craig Smith.
Smith died Sunday morning following a long battle with his health, beginning when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2017. Smith was a CFL lifer; he spent time with B.C., Saskatchewan, Hamilton and Winnipeg over his decades-long career.
Smith was also the kind of person who had time for anyone who wanted to talk about the three-down game. Indeed, he was a respected football mind, a valued colleague and a cherished friend to so many across the CFL community.
He made the CFL a better place, and my heart goes out to his wife Cathy and all his family and friends who are feeling his loss.
jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca
Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer
Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.
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