1996 Edmonton Eskimos
After an 11-7 season, head coach Ron Lancaster passes Hugh Campbell for most wins as an Edmonton head coach with 71 and earns CFL Coach of the Year honours.
In their first seasons with the Green and Gold, quarterback Danny McManus passed for over 4,000 yards and Darren Flutie caught 86 passes for 1,326 receiving yards. The club would head back to the Grey Cup to face the Toronto Argonauts after beating the Stampeders in the West Final and Cal Murphy’s Blue Bombers in the West Semifinal by a score of 68-7.
The Snow Globe Grey Cup game in Hamilton would be remembered for one terrible missed call by referee Jake Ireland on a Doug Flutie fumble, an amazing 64-yard touchdown catch by Downtown Eddie Brown and a 91-yard touchdown return by Henry “Gizmo” Williams. In the end the Argos came out victorious, defeating Edmonton 43-37.
Leroy Blugh is named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian and Willie Pless wins his third consecutive Most Outstanding Defensive player award and fourth of his career.
Larry Highbaugh is added to the Wall of Honour and Dan Kepley is inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
| 1996 (48th season) |
| Record: 11-7 (2nd West) |
| Home: 7-2 | Away: 4-5 |
| Playoffs: 2-1 | Lost Grey Cup |
| Head coach: Ron Lancaster (6th season) |
| CFL All-Stars: Eddie Brown, Trent Brown, Darren Flutie, Bennie Goods, Leo Groenewegen, Malvin Hunter, Willie Pless, Glenn Rogers Jr. |
| West All-Stars: Leroy Blugh, Eddie Brown, Trent Brown, Rod Connop, Darren Flutie, Bennie Goods, Leo Groenewegen, Malvin Hunter, Willie Pless, Glenn Rogers Jr. |
| Hall of Fame: Dan Kepley |
| Major award winners: Willie Pless (Most Outstanding Defensive Player), Leroy Blugh (Most Outstanding Canadian), Ron Lancaster (Coach of the Year) |
| Wall of Honour: Larry Highbaugh |
| Date | Opponent | Result (record) |
| June 27 | at British Columbia Lions | W 28–14 (1–0) |
| July 5 | vs Montreal Alouettes | W 16–13 (2–0) |
| July 10 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 27–24 (2–1) |
| July 17 | vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 27-16 (2–2) |
| July 25 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | W 34–18 (3–2) |
| August 3 | vs Ottawa Rough Riders | W 20–2 (4–2) |
| August 8 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 24–21 (4–3) |
| August 17 | vs Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 25–8 (5–3) |
| August 23 | vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 35–8 (6–3) |
| September 2 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 35–14 (6–4) |
| September 6 | vs Calgary Stampeders | W 20–19 (7–4) |
| September 15 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 20–14 (7–5) |
| September 20 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 41–12 (8–5) |
| September 29 | vs British Columbia Lions | W 32–12 (9–5) |
| October 4 | at Montreal Alouettes | L 32–18 (9–6) |
| October 12 | at British Columbia Lions | W 34–31 (10–6) |
| October 20 | vs Toronto Argonauts | L 24–17 (10–7) |
| October 27 | vs Calgary Stampeders | W 41–32 (11–7) |
| November 10 | vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 7-68 Division Semifinal |
| November 17 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 15-12 Division Final |
| November 24 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 43-37 Grey Cup |