And speaking of days long behind, a 37-16 win over the rival Calgary Stampeders saw them sweep the Labour Day Series for the first time since 2004.

You might remember Ricky Ray spent that one standing on the sidelines with the New York Jets, sandwiched between winning a couple of Grey Cups with Edmonton.

And while this franchise is a long way from being back in that kind of conversation, the Labour Day sweep saw them manage to climb out of the basement of the standings and emerge in the playoff race, having won five of their last six.

Not bad for a team that had already buried itself right up to the neck this season. But maybe that’s becoming a thing for pro teams in Edmonton?

With the win, the Elks (5-8) managed to leapfrog their southern rivals to sit fourth in the West Division, just a single point out of a playoff spot held by the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-7-1) in third place.

Truth be told, Edmonton is also right on the heels of the Toronto Argonauts (6-6), who sit third in the East Division, as far as early crossover considerations go.

The point is, with just a handful of games left, they still control their own fate. But they really needed those two against Calgary. Especially considering their next three come against divisional opponents who sit ahead of them in the standings, including a back-to-back against the division-leading Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

2. FIVE ALIVE

It might get lost in the excitement of the Elks being the hottest team in the Canadian Football League right now, but let’s not forget just how low they have set the bar.

It’s so low that the five wins they’ve earned this season catapults them to a benchmark they haven’t reached since 2019, having gone 3-11, 4-14 and 4-14 since the COVID-cancelled 2020 season.

They could lose out the rest of the way and still end up finishing ahead of where they’ve left off the past three seasons. But that’s hardly the goal. There is a bigger prize in the Elks’ eyes.

3. POST-SEASON PUSH

There is only one way to end a season that saw a private owner pony up to rescue this community-owned club from looming financial failure, and that’s with an immediate return to the post-season.