The Corbett Report, September 12, 2026

Introduction

Aaah, another year, another Banjo Bowl.  As has been mentioned many times here, it’s hard to win back-to-back games in the CFL.  That bodes well for the Bombers who are coming off last week’s 32-26 OT loss to the Riders.  What doesn’t bode well is the way the Banjo Bowl/Labour Day games have been trending.  Since the 2024 Banjo Bowl (a 26-21 Bomber victory), the Bombers haven’t won a game against the Riders in the LDC/BB games.  In 2025 they lost both the Labour Day game in Regina (34-30) and the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg (21-13).  To really see some Bomber domination one really needs to look at the stretch of Banjo Bowl games from 2021-2024.  In that stretch (all four games were victories) they outscored the Riders a whopping 164-56. Those were heady days for the Bombers.  In each of years 2021 through to 2024 they came into the Banjo Bowl game in 1^st place.

Overall, the Bombers are 13-8 in this game since its inauguration in 2004.

What does this all mean? Well, nothing, actually.  The LDC and the followup game, the Banjo Bowl, seem to be beasts onto themselves. Regardless of the standings and regardless of the strength of the two teams it’s anything goes for these two weeks of the CFL season. 

How this game plays out is up in the air.  What isn’t, is the excitement surrounding the Banjo Bowl.  At least for that reason, the Bombers might just have the edge.

Welcome to week 15, welcome to the Corbett Report.

Standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	For	Against
West
Edmonton	12	9	3	0	18	361	307
Sask	12	8	4	0	16	369	321
BC	12	6	6	0	12	349	328
Winnipeg	12	6	6	0	12	326	346
Calgary	12	5	7	0	10	434	388
East
Montreal	12	10	2	0	20	432	337
Toronto	12	6	6	0	12	365	361
Hamilton	13	4	9	0	8	302	384
Ottawa	11	0	11	0	0	247	413

Fun fact: In 2024 the Bombers were also 6-6 coming into the Banjo Bowl.  That year however, a 6-6 record was good enough for first place.  This year it has them clinging to a cross-over position.

Bombers

It’s difficult to write about the 2026 edition of the Bombers.  They truly are an enigma.  A rocky start and they looked like the team of yesteryear.  Recently, they seem to be turning it around.  Their victory two weeks ago against the Alouettes proved they are capable of playing some pretty good football.  And last week, in a hostile environment they managed a decent game and forced the Riders to overtime.

What needs to happen for the Bombers is to get some consistency into their game.  On offence, Collaros, needs to prove he’s still got some game in him and isn’t the washed-up veteran some are calling him.  His numbers are decent, (an average of 254 yards per game, a 70.6% completion record, and a TD/Interception ratio of 10-4) but it seems that when the Bombers really need a big play he hasn’t delivered.

Same on defence.  The Bombers are the only team in the west who have allowed more points against than they’ve scored.  

What’s also a concern is their record at home.  In the friendly confines of Princess Auto Stadium, the Bombers have managed a record of just 3-4.  With only 3 home games left and road games in both Edmonton and Montreal on the horizon I think that they’ll need a sweep at home if they want to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Riders

The defending Grey Cup Champions got off to a hot start in 2026.  After 5 games they boasted a 4-1 record, and all seemed right in Riderville.  Since then, they’ve recorded a modest 4-3 record and with injuries (particularly to their receiving corps) deeply impacting their depth chart they’re no longer the odds-on favourite to make it to the Grey Cup as the Western representative.

Their leader is undoubtedly Trevor Harris.  Harris is 40 years old and putting up the best numbers of his career.  He’s averaging 324 yards passing per game, third from the top behind Chad Kelly and Davis Alexander. How long the Riders can ride the arm of Harris remains to be seen but so far so good for the Green and White.

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Score early and get the crowd into it
• Pound the Riders defence with Oliveira
• Win the special teams battle

For the Riders to win

• Score early and take the crowd out of it
• Stop the running of Oliveira
• Win the turnover battle

The predictions

Record so far this year: 31-23 (Bomber games 6 – 6). 

This week it’s a quadruple header and it’s going to be:

• Toronto over the lowly Redblacks in Toronto
• Calgary come from behind to take the Battle of Alberta rematch in Edmonton
• BC just can’t get it done at home and lose to the Alouettes

And

It’s the rematch of last week’s Labour Day Classic.  The Bombers won’t need overtime in this one as they’ll ride the hometown crowd:

Bombers 33 Riders 21

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