The Edmonton Eskimos season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 60th overall. The Eskimos finished fourth in the West Division, but made the playoffs because of the "crossover" rule. Edmonton became the first West team to win the East Semi-Final. The Eskimos attempted to win their 14th Grey Cup championship, but they lost the East Final to the Montreal Alouettes.
Offseason
CFL draft In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.
Round Pick Player Position School/club team 2 11 (via Calgary) Greg Wojt OL Central Michigan 3 19 (via Calgary) Tim St. Pierre LB Saint Mary's 3 23 (via BC Lions via Winnipeg) Justin Cooper DL Manitoba 4 25 (via Hamilton) Sammy Okpro DB Concordia 4 26 Jonathan Hood DB St.FX 5 34 Dante Luciani REC Laurier
Transactions Date Type Incoming Outgoing Team February 8, 2008 Trade Fred Perry (DE)*2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Fernand Kashama (DE) Steven Jyles (QB) 2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Jonathan St-Pierre (OL) Saskatchewan Roughriders February 13, 2008 Trade Brock Ralph (WR) Michael Botterill (LB)Chris Thompson (LB) Hamilton Tiger-Cats February 15, 2008 Trade Jordan Younger (DB) Tyler Ebell (RB)T. J. Acree (WR) Toronto Argonauts March 20, 2008 Trade Rob Pikula (K/P) 3rd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Justin Cooper (DL) 3rd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Justin Shaw (DL) British Columbia Lions April 30, 2008 Trade John Comiskey (OL)Kevin Challenger (WR)2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Greg Wojt (OL) 3rd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Tim St. Pierre (OL) 1st-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Dimitri Tsoumpas (OL)2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL draft – Fernand Kashama (DE) Calgary Stampeders May 27, 2008Kicked to the curb Trade Duncan O'Mahony (P) 4th-round pick in 2009 CFL draft – Spencer Armstrong (WR) Calgary Stampeders May 31, 2008 Trade Noel Prefontaine (K/P) **1st-round pick in 2009 CFL draft – James Yurichuk (LB)2nd-round pick in 2010 CFL draft – Grant Shaw (DB/K) Toronto Argonauts
*Later traded to the Calgary Stampeders **Later traded to the BC Lions
Preseason
Schedule # Date Visitor Score Home OT Attendance Record Pts A June 13 Edmonton Eskimos 14–39 Calgary Stampeders 27,580 0–1 0 B June 19 Saskatchewan Roughriders 7–37 Edmonton Eskimos 33,508 1–1 2
Roster 2008 Edmonton Eskimos final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
Offensive linemen G/T C/T G C T G
Defensive linemen DE DE DE DE DE DT DT DT
Special teams LS K/P Linebackers
Defensive backs
Reserve roster C SB DB K/PPractice roster T DB WR RB DB WR DB
Injured list RB DE DE/DT LB DB T WR DB SB
Suspended WR
Italics indicate American player. Roster updated 2026-04-14
Regular season
Season standings
Season schedule Week Date Visitor Score Home OT Attendance Record Pts 1 June 28 Edmonton Eskimos 13–34 Saskatchewan Roughriders 28,800 0–1–0 0 2 July 3 Calgary Stampeders 31–34 Edmonton Eskimos 32,706 1–1–0 2 3 July 10 Toronto Argonauts 28–47 Edmonton Eskimos 31,707 2–1–0 4 4 July 20 Edmonton Eskimos 31–35 Toronto Argonauts 28,522 2–2–0 4 5 July 25 Edmonton Eskimos 19–13 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21,402 3–2–0 6 6 July 31 BC Lions 24–35 Edmonton Eskimos 35,008 4–2–0 8 7 August 8 Edmonton Eskimos 34–40 BC Lions 30,863 4–3–0 8 8 Bye 4–3–0 8 9 August 21 Saskatchewan Roughriders 10–27 Edmonton Eskimos 48,808 5–3–0 10 10 September 1 Edmonton Eskimos 37–16 Calgary Stampeders 35,650 6–3–0 12 11 September 5 Calgary Stampeders 38–33 Edmonton Eskimos 46,014 6–4–0 12 12 September 13 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33–38 Edmonton Eskimos 37,500 7–4–0 14 13 September 21 Edmonton Eskimos 4–40 Montreal Alouettes 20,202 7–5–0 14 14 September 26 Edmonton Eskimos 23–30 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 29,794 7–6–0 14 15 October 4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22–36 Edmonton Eskimos 40,453 8–6–0 16 16 October 10 Edmonton Eskimos 27–20 BC Lions 34,778 9–6–0 18 17 October 17 BC Lions 43–28 Edmonton Eskimos 34,342 9–7–0 18 18 October 25 Edmonton Eskimos 9–55 Saskatchewan Roughriders 30,945 9–8–0 18 19 October 31 Montreal Alouettes 14–37 Edmonton Eskimos 29,911 10–8–0 20
Total attendance: 336,449 Average attendance: 37,383 (62.8%)
Ron Lancaster On Thursday, September 18, Ron Lancaster, 69, died from an apparent heart attack, less than two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite working in television, Lancaster returned to football as the Eskimos' head coach in 1991. During his seven-season tenure as Edmonton's head coach, the Eskimos won the 1993 Grey Cup. Lancaster resigned as the Eskimos' head coach after the 1997 season to become the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' head coach and director of football operations.
Player stats = Indicates team leader
Passing Player GP Att Comp % Yds LG TDs INT Rating Ricky Ray (QB) 18 605 422 69.8 5,661 66 26 17 101.8 Jason Maas (QB) 3 44 26 59.1 340 80 0 1 74.1 Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 1 1 1 100.0 19 19 0 0 158.3 Stefan LeFors (QB) 17 4 1 25.0 9 9 0 1 71.9
Rushing Player GP Att Yds LG Avg. TD Fumbles A. J. Harris (RB) 11 99 557 36 5.6 6 1 Calvin McCarty (RB) 18 88 490 34 5.6 4 4 Ricky Ray (QB) 18 75 258 15 3.4 5 13 Ronald McClendon (RB) 2 13 64 19 4.9 1 0 Damien Anderson (RB) 2 17 57 16 3.4 0 1 Jason Maas (QB) 3 3 30 16 10.0 0 1 Mathieu Bertrand (FB) 17 13 28 4 2.2 4 0 Tristan Jackson (CB) 17 2 18 13 9.0 0 3 Kamau Peterson (SB) 18 1 13 13 13.0 0 0 Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 17 1 10 10 10.0 0 0 Kelly Campbell (WR) 15 1 6 6 6.0 0 0 Stefan LeFors (QB) 1 1 2 2 2.0 0 0 Kamau Peterson (SB) 18 0 0 0 0.0 0 3 Tyler Clutts (DE) 18 0 0 0 0.0 0 1 Jason Goss (HB) 17 0 0 0 0.0 0 3 Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 17 0 0 0 0.0 0 3 Kelly Campbell (WR) 15 0 0 0 0.0 0 3 Andrew Nowacki (WR) 13 0 0 0 0.0 0 1
Receiving Player GP No. Yds Avg. LG TD Kamau Peterson (SB) 18 101 1,315 13.0 66 4 Kelly Campbell (WR) 15 54 1,223 22.6 53 7 Fred Stamps (SB) 14 50 751 15.0 46 6 Calvin McCarty (RB) 18 70 583 8.3 27 1 A. J. Harris (RB) 11 37 422 11.4 39 0 Maurice Mann (SB) 7 31 420 13.5 44 4 Andrew Nowacki (WR) 13 28 369 13.2 31 2 Jason Tucker (WR) 5 14 235 16.8 36 2 Kevin Challenger (WR) 5 8 166 20.8 80 0 Brock Ralph (WR) 6 13 164 12.6 46 0 Mathieu Bertrand (FB) 17 22 161 7.3 29 0 Greg Prator (WR) 3 7 96 13.7 27 0 Ronald McClendon (RB) 2 8 67 8.4 14 0 Damien Anderson (RB) 2 7 57 8.1 15 0
Defence Player GP TKL STT KD Sacks Ints Int Yds Int LG Int TD Fumb R. Fumb Yds Fumb LG Fumb TD Fumb F. Agustin Barrenechea (LB) 18 68 2 1 3 2 16 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 Siddeeq Shabazz (LB) 18 63 6 0 3 1 4 4 0 1 3 3 0 2 Kenny Onatolu (LB) 14 60 8 3 3 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 0 1 Jason Goss (HB) 17 52 0 6 1 5 182 94 2 3 55 34 0 0 Jordan Younger (CB) 15 52 0 8 0 1 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jonté Buhl (CB/HB) 16 49 4 4 1 4 46 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 Shannon Garrett (DB) 18 45 1 4 1 1 30 30 0 1 25 25 1 0 Keith Williams (DB) 6 36 1 1 0 1 9 9 0 1 0 0 0 1 Lenny Williams (HB) 9 35 2 1 0 2 23 16 0 0 0 0 0 3 Dario Romero (DT) 16 30 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Jim Davis (DE) 14 26 0 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Montez Murphy (DE) 12 24 0 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brandon Guillory (DE) 13 21 0 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tyler Clutts (DE) 18 21 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 Fred Perry (DE) 7 17 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Eric Taylor (DT) 6 17 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Bradley Robinson (DB) 7 14 1 2 0 3 52 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tristan Jackson (CB) 17 11 1 4 0 2 123 89 1 0 0 0 0 1 Joe Anoa'i (DT) 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Scott Coe (LB) 12 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Darrell Robertson (LB) 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Trey Young (LB) 2 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Kamau Peterson (SB) 18 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wale Dada (CB) 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Calvin Armstrong (OG) 17 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A. J. Harris (RB) 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Calvin McCarty (RB) 18 3 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Patrick Kabongo (OG) 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ricky Ray (QB) 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 John Comiskey (OG) 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Patrick Kabongo (OG) 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kelly Campbell (WR) 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brock Ralph (WR) 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Justin Cooper (DE) 18 1 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pierre-Luc Yao (RB) 18 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mathieu Bertrand (FB) 17 1 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Andrew Nowacki (WR) 13 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Fred Stamps (SB) 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dan Comiskey (C) 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Maurice Mann (SB) 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Tucker (WR) 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Maas (QB) 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Chris Ciezki (FB) 18 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 0 1 Adrian Baird (DE) 18 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Derrick Doggett (LB) 4 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 17 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Taylor Inglis (LS) 18 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tim St. Pierre (LB) 18 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mike Maurer (FB) 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J. R. LaRose (DB) 8 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Challenger (WR) 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kickoffs Player GP KO Att. Yds KO Avg. LG Singles Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 17 77 4,636 60.2 73 0 Derek Schiavone (K/P) 1 5 258 51.6 53 0
Kicking Player GP FG FG Att. FG% LG SG XP XP Att. XP% PTS Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 17 35 46 76.1 54 7 48 48 100.0 160 Derek Schiavone (K/P) 1 3 3 100.0 28 0 4 4 100.0 13 Calvin McCarty (RB) 18 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 1
Punting Player GP Punts Yds Avg. SG LG Noel Prefontaine (K/P) 17 103 4,831 46.9 11 75 Derek Schiavone (K/P) 1 3 109 36.3 0 41
Returning Player GP K. Ret. KR Yds KR Avg. KR TD KR LG P. Ret. PR Yds PR Avg. PR TD PR LG MFG Ret. MFG Yds MFG Avg. MFG LG MFG TD Tristan Jackson (CB) 17 35 839 24.0 1 94 79 809 10.2 2 67 5 142 28.4 64 0 Fred Stamps (SB) 14 14 297 21.2 0 49 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Kelly Campbell (WR) 15 13 291 22.4 0 51 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Tyler Clutts (DE) 18 6 37 6.2 0 12 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Lenny Williams (HB) 9 4 99 24.8 0 39 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Bradley Robinson (DB) 7 4 59 14.8 0 24 6 33 5.5 0 9 0 0 0.0 0 0 Damien Anderson (RB) 2 3 56 18.7 0 20 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Mathieu Bertrand (FB) 17 3 34 11.3 0 16 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Jason Goss (HB) 17 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 5 5.0 0 5 0 0 0.0 0 0
Awards and records Kamau Peterson (WR), Edmonton Eskimos – CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award Ricky Ray, Led CFL, Passing Yards (5,861) Ricky Ray, Led West Division, Passing Attempts (605) Ricky Ray, Led West Division, Passing Completions (422) Ricky Ray, Led CFL, Passing Completion (69.8%)
All-Star selections Patrick Kabongo, CFL Western All-Star, Offence Kamau Peterson, CFL Western All-Star, Offence Dario Romero, CFL Western All-Star, Defence
Milestones
Playoffs The Eskimos advanced to the East Division playoffs as a "crossover" being that they had a better record than Toronto. By defeating Winnipeg, Edmonton became the first crossover team from the West to win an Eastern semi-final.
Week Date Visitor Score Home OT Attendance Division Semi-Final Nov 8 Edmonton Eskimos 29–21 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 27,493 Division Final Nov 15 Edmonton Eskimos 26–36 Montreal Alouettes 38,132
East semi-final Date and time: Saturday, November 8, 12:00 PM Central Standard TimeVenue: Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg, Manitoba Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalEdmonton Eskimos 3 18 8 0 29Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8 7 0 6 21
East final Date and time: Saturday, November 15, 1:00 PM Eastern Standard TimeVenue: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalEdmonton Eskimos 7 6 0 13 26Montreal Alouettes 3 16 10 7 36
References