Elks ‘to find out’ their identity in season-opener at Ottawa

Edmonton Elks head coach Mark Kilam looks on before CFL football action against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina, on Friday, July 25, 2025. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)

The Edmonton Elks are hoping to capitalize on their offensive additions Saturday in Ottawa for their season-opening game.

The Canadian Football League squad made significant additions on the attacking side of the ball, bolstering the offensive line with three significant additions and adding a top-flight pass-catcher.

Until the Elks take the field at TD Place Stadium against the host RedBlacks (5 p.m. MT), though, head coach Mark Kilam said Thursday he isn’t sure what exactly to expect from his club.

“We haven’t (yet) played as a starting group for 60 minutes, so we’re going to find out about ourselves,” Kilam told media after practice at Edmonton’s Clarke Stadium.

“We know what kind of journey we are on, we know what our goals are inside the room, and now we’ve got to go to the field and see who we’re going to be.”

Saturday’s matchup will cap Week 1 of the 2026 CFL season, which started earlier than ever on Thursday, when Montreal beat Hamilton 30-27 in overtime.

Extra points

• The Elks play three of their first four games of 2026 on the road, with their home opener scheduled in two weeks: June 20 vs. Montreal;
• Both the Elks and RedBlacks have a bye week next week;
• Both teams finished last in their divisions in 2025;
• The Elks are winless in season openers since 2019;
• Cody Fajardo, the Elks’ starting quarterback, is one win shy of 50 career victories. The 10-year CFL veteran, who has also suited up for the Toronto Argonauts, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes, has a career record of 49-36-1 for a 57.6 win percentage.
• Fajardo will also be the fifth different season-opening starter for the Elks in five years after Trevor Harris started in 2021, Nick Arbuckle in 2022, Taylor Cornelius in 2023, McLeod Bethel-Thompson in 2024 and Tre Ford last year.
• Ryan Dinwiddie makes his RedBlacks coaching debut in this game, after helming the Argonauts for the last five seasons;
• The Elks won both their games last season against the RedBlacks, beating them 39-33 in Edmonton and 30-20 in Ottawa.