For the 51st time on holiday Monday, the Calgary Stampeders will entertain the Edmonton Eskimos in the annual Labour Day Classic from McMahon Stadium. The rivalry renews at 1 p.m. MDT.

Entering the action at 7-1-1, the Stamps are atop the standings having earned six straight triumphs and avoided an outright defeat since late June. The Eskimos are the fourth-place squad in the West Division at 5-4.

Calgary is undefeated through four homes games this season while the Esks own a 2-1 record away from the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.

Monday afternoon will mark the 51st Labour Day matchup between the Red and White and the Green and Gold. The Stampeders will look to even their all-time record against Edmonton on Labour Day, with the series currently at 25-24-1 in favor of the Eskimos.

Over the last decade, however, the Stamps have posted an 8-2 mark to open the month of September, including a 16-7 win in 2015.

The two sides have yet to do battle since Dave Dickenson and Jason Maas took over as head coach for their respective teams. A season ago saw Calgary spilt the yearly home-and-home series with their provincial rivals before dropping a second decision to the Eskimos. That October defeat was the Stampeders’ only blemish on their home schedule and ultimately awarded the first-place tiebreaker to the Esks after each club finished at 14-4.

Leading the CFL in points scored (30.9), average yards per rush (4.9), fewest interceptions thrown (four) and fewest sacks allowed (four), the Stamps won’t be the only prolific offence taking the field in Southern Alberta this weekend. The Esks are No. 2 in the league in terms of completions net offence (418.2) and are currently setting the pace in terms of completions (249), first downs (223) and touchdowns (27).

In addition, Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell and Edmonton’s Mike Reilly are the only quarterbacks to have registered seven outings with at least 300 passing yards.

Quinn Smith, Ucambre Williams and Glenn Love all come onto the 46-man roster while Pierre Lavertu and Tory Harrison have bee placed on the injury list.

Next week will see the Stampeders hit the road to face the Eskimos on Saturday for the all-important rematch.

Key Matchup

Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker have combined for 1,843 receiving yards – including 14 catches of over 30 yards – to go along with 10 touchdowns. The dynamic duo will be perhaps the tallest task to date for the Stampeders secondary, a unit that has performed admirably thus far in limiting their opponents to 7.6 yards per pass and a completion percentage of 65.0 per cent.

Download Stamps’ position chart and roster
Download game notes

Comparative team stats (through Week 10)