EDMONTON – The Edmonton Elks are the first team to reach four wins in the young CFL season, after defeating the Ottawa RedBlacks 40-17 at Play Alberta Field at Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday (July 9).

Running back Justin Rankin led the way with three touchdowns for the Elks, who improve to 4-1 and momentarily move into sole possession of first place in the CFL West Division.

The Green and Gold also got a touchdown from Kaion Julien-Grant, and Edmonton kicker Vincent Blanchard made all four of his field-goal attempts to remain perfect this season.

Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 19 of 24 passes for 340 yards as the Elks bounced back after suffering their first loss of the season just five days earlier, to the BC Lions in Kelowna, B.C., on July 4.

“We needed that,” said Fajardo. “My message to the guys this week was, ‘get back to playing our brand of football’, and that’s our brand of football: running the ball, quick passes, take your shots here and there. We were in second and medium a good majority of the time.”

The Elks out-gained Ottawa by a whopping 200 yards, 537-337. The difference was particularly lopsided on the ground, as Edmonton ran for 215 yards – 107 from Rankin – while holding the RedBlacks to just 25 yards rushing.

Edmonton’s defensive backs intercepted RedBlacks quarterback Jake Maier four times, with two picks by Kordell Jackson and one apiece from Tyrell Ford and Chelen Garnes.

“It’s good to get going, we’ve been struggling as far as DBs getting the ball out of the air, so (Ford) set the tone and everybody else followed,” Jackson said. “You know any time one comes, they come in bunches, so it’s good to get it, we just got to keep it going now.”

Bryson Barnes and Ayden Eberhardt each scored a touchdown for Ottawa, which sees its record fall to a league-worst 0-5.

The Green and Gold never trailed, leading by seven points after the first quarter and nine points at halftime. Ottawa cut the Edmonton’s lead to two points in the third quarter before the Elks erupted for 24 points in the fourth.

“I’m proud of them for sticking with it, because we stalled out big time in the third — I don’t think we had a first down until the last minute and a half of the third quarter,” Elks coach Mark Kilam said. “They just stayed with it, that’s what good teams do. It’s professional football, (the Red Blacks are) going to make some plays, you do have to give them credit, but then when we found our footing and we got going, then we could blow it open.”

The Elks shot out of the gate, driving 65 yards in eight plays on the game’s opening drive, culminating with a 19-yard run to the end zone by Rankin for a touchdown.

Edmonton extended its lead to 10-0 midway through the second quarter, when Blanchard kicked a 36-yard field goal. Ottawa got on the board with a touchdown from a QB sneak by Barnes, cutting the Elks lead to 10-7.

O’Leary-Orange out the gates!#GoElks pic.twitter.com/YzePZhsNAG

— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) July 10, 2026

After Ford snuffed out a promising Ottawa drive when he picked off Maier at the Elks 14-yard line, Fajardo and Brendan O’Leary-Orange linked up for a 90-yard pitch-and-catch, setting up a 15-yard field goal from Blanchard.

Blanchard added another field goal, from 50 yards, just before halftime, sending Edmonton into the break with a 16-7 lead.

Ottawa scored the lone points of the third quarter, with just over two minutes remaining, when Eberhardt caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Maier.

Edmonton answered early in the fourth quarter, as Fajardo connected with Julien-Grant for a four-yard touchdown to make the score 23-14 in favour of the home.

Ottawa kicker Brett Lauther knocked home a field goal from 27 yards, pulling Ottawa back within six points, before Rankin decided to put the game away.

First, the running back caught a short pass and sprinted to the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown. Then, after Edmonton’s defence forced a turnover on downs, Rankin took off for a 31-yard touchdown rush as Edmonton opened up a 20-point advantage.

Blanchard tacked on his fourth goal of the night, from 11 yards with less than a minute remaining, to round out the scoring.

The Elks will be back in action at Play Alberta Field at Commonwealth Stadium on July 17 (7 p.m. MDT), when they host the BC Lions for the Dog Days of Summer presented by ATCO Energy. Tickets for all Elks home games are available now.