It’s a Sunday battle between a pair of Western rivals looking to build off some momentum following an early-season slide. And for the 2-3 BC Lions, it represents an opportunity to create some real breathing room against the 1-3 Edmonton Elks in what is the second of three regular season meetings.
The chance to get back to .500 ahead of two straight home games to wrap up July also represents another big dangling carrot for Nathan Rourke and company, who also seek their first complete game of the young season. More on this matchup in our 5 Things To Know feature.
Kickoff: 4:00 pm
TV: TSN/RDS
Stream: CFL+ (US, International)
Radio: 730 CKNW/Sher-E Punjab Radio Am 600/Sirius XM Canada Talks 167
1. Rourke vs. Ford Round Two
Much was made in week one over the fact that Nathan Rourke and Tre Ford represented the first all-Canadian quarterback matchup since August 1968 (the Lions’ Pete Ohler against Edmonton’s Frank Cosentino). With that storyline covered, we can take more time to appreciate that two of the CFL’s brightest young pivots are duking it out once again.
Both are coming off much-needed victories and for Rourke, it’s a chance to continue building his impressive body of work against the green and gold. In four career outings dating back to 2022, Rourke is unbeaten with 1,442 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns and a completion percentage of 81.1.
Don’t remind him, though. Number 12 is always all about getting better and better with each opportunity.
2. ‘Next Man’ Up
With a long stretch of games before their first bye in week nine at the end of this month, the squad is battling through the injury bug. No excuses.
It’s just the nature of the business. With Michael Couture headed to the six-game injured list (hand), Andrew Peirson gets the nod at centre with 2025 draft pick Alex Berwick and first-year American Ilm Manning coming on as extras. The play of the offensive line has been a bright spot through five games and it will be intriguing to see how they battle through with key guys out of the lineup.
Looking for a boost in the return game, Seven McGee is back in after missing two weeks with a hamstring injury. His insertion comes at the expense of Jermaine Jackson.
On defence, Jonah Tavai and DeWayne Hendrix remain on the shelf for at least one more week. That leaves Tomasi Laulile and Marcus Moore as the American starters up front. All changes for this week can be seen at the depth chart below:
Your Week 6 Lions Depth Chart just dropped! 🏈
Here’s how we are lining up against the Elks in Edmonton on Sunday.
#BCLions | @PlayNowSports pic.twitter.com/GsNA8tVgWE— BC LIONS (@BCLions) July 12, 2025
3. Out Of The Gates
They looked poised to bump their first-half slump last week before Rourke’s deep pass for Keon Hatcher landed in the hands of a Montreal defender on the opening drive of the game. That giveaway led to a quick seven points and put them behind the eight-ball yet again.
In five games this season, the Lions have managed only three points in the first quarter and have been outscored a combined 72-32 in the opening half.
The quest to play a complete game continues and a big part of that is cutting down on the costly penalties that have plagued them in a few contests. A balanced attack on offence and maintaining an edge in time of possession is what this offence will do best to succeed and take control early.
4. Make Them One-Dimensional
Another early-season challenge for an improving defensive unit has been stopping the run. The Lions entered week six allowing a CFL-worst 136.4 rushing yards per game. When you look at Edmonton’s win over Ottawa last week, they rallied behind Justin Rankin’s 105 yards on the ground while Ford connected with him on 69 more yards through the air.
Neutralizing the Edmonton backfield and forcing them to rely heavily on the passing game is a big key to this contest. Look for them to be more stout up front. With the always-dangerous Javon Leake returning kicks, the Leos’ special teams unit will also be in for a big test. Moral of the story: they want to put the game in Ford’s hands and let the chips fall where they may.
5. What They’re Saying
“Last week, the win was momentum. And we all want to build on that. We all know our record, we all know the standings and we know where we’re headed. We’re definitely looking forward to getting on a little win streak here and turning things around. Nobody in the West will be looked at as a pushover, or else you’re going to go out there and lose the game. We’re all professionals. Our mindset is going out there and starting fast. We’ve been going into the last couple of games not starting as fast as we want to, so for us it’s starting fast and keeping that momentum throughout the whole game.”- Defensive back Garry Peters on the stakes in Edmonton.
“Where we are at this point in the season, there are still some spots that we need to improve on that are still showing up. You look at the last three weeks, some missed assignments and a few busts here and there. We’ve got to clean up our communication. ‘I heard this, I want this way,’ you know, those types of things. Other than that, guys stepped up and made plays at critical times.”- Buck Pierce on the need to keep getting better despite bumping their losing streak last week.