![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788737830_459_indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\nCalgary (5-6) has forced 26 turnovers, including 15 interceptions, for 83 points.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you open up a box score, which nobody does any more, but if you actually do, and you just look at the turnover ratio, usually that\u2019s going to tell you who won the game,\u201d said Stampeders coach and general manager Dave Dickenson.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always said it\u2019s the most important stat in sports. Hasn\u2019t always held true for us this year, but I think it\u2019s most important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmonton\u2019s turnover ratio of plus-14 topped the league ahead of Calgary\u2019s at plus-11, but Fajardo also pointed to his team\u2019s 19 fumbles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like if we would protect the ball a little bit better in the fumble game, our turnover ratio would even be better,\u201d Fajardo said. <\/p>\n
The turnover battle is one of the board pieces in a chess match that pits Calgary\u2019s league-leading 36.9 average points per game against Edmonton\u2019s defence that\u2019s allowed a league-low average of 25.4 per game.<\/p>\n
Calgary hosts Edmonton in a 44th straight Labour Day game at McMahon Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Elks coming off a bye week chase a third straight win after victories over the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. <\/p>\n
Edmonton, on track to host a home playoff game for the first time in over a decade, aims to stay atop the West Division and ahead of the pursuing Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n
The Stampeders want out of the division basement and to remain in contention for the post-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis game means a lot to a lot of people,\u201d Elks head coach Mark Kilam said. \u201cFor us, it\u2019s a divisional game, which is important. It\u2019s the next game on our schedule, which is important, and Calgary standing in our way.\u201d<\/p>\n
After losing four games this season by four points or less, the Stampeders eked out a 28-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 13 with quarterback Josh Love earning his first victory as a starter. <\/p>\n
Vernon Adams Jr. sat out the game after sustaining a head injury Aug. 13 in a loss to the B.C. Lions. He practised this week and got the green light for Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo concerns, I feel confident,\u201d Adams said. \u201cI just have to play my game, get these guys the ball, let them do the rest, keep the guys encouraged on the sideline, and yeah, that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand the urgency that we have right now. We control our own destiny. We\u2019ve just got to keep playing our game, owning the ball, stack these wins. If we do that, we\u2019ll be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dedrick Mills scored Calgary\u2019s winning touchdown against the Ticats on a 49-yard rumble with 29 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n
The CFL\u2019s leading rusher in 2025 needs 126 yards for a second consecutive season of 1,000 yards or more. <\/p>\n
Edmonton\u2019s Justin Rankin (791 yards) is also in the hunt for a rushing title behind Winnipeg leader Brady Oliveira (956), Mills (874) and Montreal\u2019s Travis Theis (831).<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery running back we play against, I want to be the best in the league,\u201d Mills said. \u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, Rankin is a great guy, Brady is a great guy. We all feel the same way about ourselves. We all feel like we\u2019re the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just go out here and compete and then at the end the year we always see who\u2019s number one, number two, number three. It\u2019s a competition for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fajardo needs 226 passing yards for a career 25,000. Fajardo and Adams, each 10-year CFL veterans, played their first Battle of Alberta on Labour Day last year in their first seasons with the respective teams.<\/p>\n
Both quarterbacks said Sunday the traditional pre-game flyover of two CF-19 Hornets felt unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know when you\u2019re seeing a flyover that you\u2019re playing in a big game, and it means a lot to us players,\u201d Fajardo said.<\/p>\n
Elks receiver T.J. Luther (hamstring) won\u2019t play Monday and linebacker Kenny Logan Jr. (knee) remained on the injured list a third straight game.<\/p>\n
Stampeder receiver Reggie Begelton, who hasn\u2019t played since June of last year because of a knee injury, practised a second straight week, but the 33-year-old veteran wasn\u2019t activated for Monday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2026.<\/p>\n
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary (5-6) has forced 26 turnovers, including 15 interceptions, for 83 points. \u201cIf you open up a box…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[214,51,286,280,287,279,281,282,116,283,284,285,49],"class_list":["post-198601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-breaking-news","tag-calgary","tag-central-vancouver-island","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.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}