
EDMONTON – The Elks are hoping to lean on Interim Head Coach Jarious Jackson’s experience to pull off the seemingly impossible.
Jackson knows that a CFL team can turn around their entire season after a winless start because he has witnessed firsthand. Jackson was a member of the 2011 B.C. Lions squad that started their season 0-5, before rattling off an 11-2 regular season finish en route to winning the Grey Cup.
GAME NECESSITIES
Much like this year’s Elks, who have lost all six of their contests by a single score, the 2011 Lions suffered from a similar fate in their early season – four of their five defeats were one score games.
A turnaround all starts with one win and the Elks need to get one on Sunday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“I just feel like it’ll break for us sooner or later. We’ve just got to trust the process and keep fighting and stay pushing forward,” Jackson said. That’s all that we can do at this point.”
“I know I told the guys how I was on that BC team. I know it’s a bit of an anomaly, but I was on that 1-6 B.C. team that year we were able to come back and win the Grey Cup. Hopefully we can repeat something like that, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to get the culture built here.”
The Elks focused on a full week of practice under the newly elevated Jackson, with much more time to prepare for Hamilton than the abbreviated week heading into Ottawa. Edmonton’s offence in particular needs to get on the same page after a disappointing outing against the RedBlacks where they were held below 20 points for the first time this season.
“It was great to get it back to practice, to hone the craft,” McLeod Bethel-Thompson said. “We’ve just got to find a way to get a win. There’s a thousand ways to lose a football game, and we’re running out of ways to lose it, so it’s about time we win.”
The Tiger-Cats were in a very similar situation as the Elks to start the season, rattling off five-consecutive defeats before breaking through against the Toronto Argonauts last week.
On offence, former Calgary Stampeders nemesis QB Bo Levi-Mitchell is in the middle of a renaissance season. The 34-year-old is second in the CFL in passing yards with 1,941 and his 12 touchdowns are already the most he’s thrown since 2019.
“They have a lot of great weapons. They have a great scheme,” Coach Jackson said. “I played for Scott Milanovich and he’s one of the best when it comes up to the X’s and O’s. I know they’ll have a great schematic game and I’m expecting our defence to step up again. We just need to start stacking great performances.”
On defence, the Tiger-Cats have struggled at times, allowing 24 or more points in every single game this season. Still, they have some solid talent on the defensive line that can make Bethel-Thompson have to be quick and decisive with his reads. Brandon Barlow has three sacks already after a nine-sack campaign in 2023, while Casey Sayles has matched the fellow pass rusher with three QB takedowns.
“They’re great up front. You got great fronts all across this league, but this front is good as well. They’re a force,” Bethel-Thompson said. “We’ve got to control their front, slow them down, get them going side-to-side and find a way to be efficient on first down.”