![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783590790_152_indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\nSaskatchewan\u2019s defence did a nice job against Justin Rankin, holding Edmonton\u2019s explosive running back to 39 yards rushing on 12 carries (3.3-yard average). It also had three sacks.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Riders starter Trevor Harris was 26-of-36 passing for 386 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Kian Schaeffer had eight catches for a game-high 186 yards and a touchdown as Saskatchewan\u2019s offence converted 13-of-23 second-down opportunities.<\/p>\n
But the Riders might be without A.J. Ouellette, who ran for 52 yards on 12 carries before leaving with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan\u2019s defence entered last week\u2019s game as one of the CFL\u2019s best. It was ranked first in fewest offensive yards (354.2 yards per game), passing yards (266.6), offensive TDs (11) and touchdown passes allowed (four) and had surrendered a league-low three completions of 30-plus yards.<\/p>\n
After last week\u2019s contest, Saskatchewan dropped to sixth in net offensive yards allowed (382.8), fifth against the pass (307.2 yards) and second in 30-yard completions (seven). But it remains first in fewest passing TDs (eight) and offensive touchdowns (15) surrendered.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mace is also its defensive co-ordinator. There\u2019s little doubt the necessary adjustments will be made in time for Saturday\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n
Edmonton is 3-0 at home while Saskatchewan is 2-0 on the road. The game is important because a win would allow the Elks to clinch the season series and the tiebreaker should the teams finish the year tied.<\/p>\n
Edmonton last started 4-0 at home in 2019, and last won a season series with Saskatchewan in 2016.<\/p>\n
Pick: Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
B.C. Lions vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Thursday night)<\/p>\n
At Winnipeg, rookie Kaidon Salter starts for B.C. (1-5). Chase Brice completed 14 of 25 passes for 163 yards in last week\u2019s 26-12 loss to Toronto, his first CFL start, before Salter completed nine of 15 passes for 121 yards in relief. Salter\u2019s quarterback coach and offensive co-ordinator at Liberty University was former CFL head coach and Hall of Fame quarterback Kent Austin. Salter replaced Shedeur Sanders at Colorado in 2025. Dru Brown makes a fourth straight start for the Bombers (4-3) and threw four interceptions in last week\u2019s 52-30 home loss to Calgary. Brady Oliveira ran for a season-high 128 yards and two touchdowns despite being underutilized in the fourth quarter versus the Stamps.<\/p>\n
Pick: Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Montreal Alouettes vs Ottawa Redblacks (Friday night)<\/p>\n
At Ottawa, the Redblacks (0-6) come off the bye just in time to face the streaking Alouettes (6-1, four straight wins). Montreal won 37-35 at Molson Stadium in the teams\u2019 previous meeting this season. The good news for the home team is three of its six losses have been by five points or less, including its 36-34 setback to Winnipeg at TD Place on July 19. The Als come off a short week (31-18 home win over Hamilton on Sunday), a game that saw starter Davis Alexander\u2019s streak of 300-yard passing games end at six. And maybe they could get caught looking ahead to next week\u2019s showdown with Edmonton. Then again, likely not.<\/p>\n
Pick: Montreal.<\/p>\n
Calgary Stampeders vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Saturday afternoon)<\/p>\n
At Hamilton, there was much to like about the Ticats (3-4) last week. Isaiah Wooden had a punt-return TD, the defence was solid, and Canadian quarterback Tre Ford played decently as the team took an 18-17 lead into the fourth. But Ford\u2019s pick helped Montreal outscore the visitors 14-0 in the quarter while accumulating 167 yards rushing. Calgary (3-4) comes off a 52-point outburst versus Winnipeg as former Ticat Tyreik McAllister became the first CFL player to score rushing, receiving and return TDs in a game. Vernon Adams Jr. has thrown a CFL-high 20 touchdown passes with no interceptions while Dedrick Mills (584 yards with 6.1-yard average) is the league\u2019s rushing leader. <\/p>\n
Pick: Calgary.<\/p>\n
Last week: 3-1.<\/p>\n
Overall: 16-14.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saskatchewan\u2019s defence did a nice job against Justin Rankin, holding Edmonton\u2019s explosive running back to 39 yards rushing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[879,49,48,521,522,2467,520,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82],"class_list":["post-835896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-cfl","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}