Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders/Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards

The best weekend on the CFL calendar is here. This year, the league is just playing the classics with the three traditional games on the schedule. 

I went 2-1 last week, putting me at 22-17 on the year. Let’s keep that momentum going this week.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Saskatchewan Roughriders — Sunday, August 31 at 7:00 p.m. EDT

The first of the classics takes place on the prairies, with the Roughriders looking to bounce back from last week’s loss as they take on Winnipeg. 

The Riders were beaten up by Calgary last week in every aspect of the sport, getting dominated for a 32-15 loss. Aside from matchups against Calgary, the Riders have been excellent this year and really seemed to find another level before that setback. Even with a pair of bad losses against their West Division rivals, Saskatchewan has the second-best net offence in the league while boasting the best net defence in the CFL.

They face a Winnipeg team that has won both games they’ve played since falling victim to the Stampeders themselves. It certainly hasn’t felt like the same dominant season from the Bombers that we are used to, but they still find themselves four points behind the Riders for top spot in the West with their traditional back-to-back right in front of them.

The interesting matchup in this game is Corey Mace’s defence against Brady Oliveira. Saskatchewan once again has the best run defence in the league, while Winnipeg has the most rushing yards per game in the CFL. Last year, Saskatchewan held Oliveira to under 50 yards in all three games. However, Oliveira had his two biggest receiving games of the year against the Riders. If Saskatchewan can limit Oliveira in this matchup in all aspects, they should have a clear path to victory.

The area that tilts the matchup in the Green and White’s favour for me is the turnover department. The Riders’ defence, once again, has been dangerous, and they have forced the third-most turnovers in the league. On the opposite side, no team has turned it over more than Winnipeg has this season. Saskatchewan’s offence is too dangerous to give them extra opportunities, especially at home on Labour Day.

These are two very good teams facing off in a matchup that should live up to the “classic” billing. But, this year, the Riders feel like the more complete team at the moment, and a win in the turnover battle should get them the win in this massive Western showdown. 

PICK: Saskatchewan -4.5
Toronto Argonauts at Hamilton Tiger-Cats — Monday, September 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET

The East-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Toronto Argonauts for the East’s version of the Labour Day Classic on Monday. 

Hamilton still holds down the top spot in the East despite having lost two in a row before last week’s bye. Meanwhile, Toronto picked up a huge win in their game with B.C. last week, keeping them alive in the East playoff race heading into Labour Day.

Recency bias would tell you this should be a Toronto win, given the results of the last couple of weeks. But Hamilton still feels like the better side in this game. The Ticats are still the top-scoring team in the league despite being held to nine points by Saskatchewan in their last game. 

Toronto certainly has had issues this season, but their QB isn’t one of them. Nick Arbuckle –- with the aid of one extra game –- has the lead in CFL passing yards heading into Labour Day Weekend. He has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his last five games and, perhaps more importantly, has had only two interceptions in those games. That is a far cry from the eight he threw in the first six weeks of the season. 

But here is the problem for Toronto: during that five-game stretch where Arbuckle has been excellent, they have only won two games. The QB play has been very strong, but not strong enough to overcome the issues on the defensive side.

We mentioned it last week, but Toronto is responsible for the biggest or second-biggest scoring output of the season for over half of the league. In the aforementioned five-game stretch, the Argos allowed 33 points per game — and that is including a game where they only allowed 17 points to a Winnipeg team with Chris Streveler at the helm for the majority. 

The number is really high, so the over feels like a risky spot even with these two teams involved. But this should be a wild game, and in this type of matchup, I’ll take the team with the QB and defensive edge. 

PICK: Hamilton -5
Edmonton Elks at Calgary Stampeders — Monday, September 1 at 6:00 p.m. EDT

Labour Day Weekend wraps up in the stadium of the hottest team in the CFL, with the Stampeders taking on the Elks. 

Calgary rocketed back to the top of the power rankings with its dominant win over  Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, Edmonton has sneakily stayed in the playoff hunt with three straight wins. 

The Elks look like a totally different team with Cody Fajardo under centre, and they are now two points back of B.C. for the crossover spot. Meanwhile, Calgary has been a wrecking ball against everyone with the unlikely exception of the Ottawa Redblacks.

Of the Stampeders’ seven wins on the year, only three of them have been in single digits. They have been excellent at blowing teams away with a complete attack that is especially impressive given the turnover they had heading into the year. 

Even with Calgary being more than capable of blowing teams out, the 7.5-point spread is scaring me away just because of Edmonton’s improved play. I could easily see the Elks making this a one-score game down the stretch.

But that total is intriguing. If this game goes over 52.5, it will be the first time an Edmonton game has reached that number since their 39-33 win over Ottawa on July 6. I can see the Elks keeping this game close, but I could also see Calgary’s defence keeping this game low scoring enough to let the under hit again. 

PICK: Under 52.5