But just as they started to look like the team that made it to the Grey Cup final last season, the unfortunate happened.
Edmonton defensive end, Elfrid Payton, the CFL's top defensive player last season, tore his right anterior cruciate ligament after a collision with Stampeder tailback Lawrence Phillips in the Eskimos 34-24 victory on Thursday.
Payton, 35, the undisputed leader and anchor of the Edmonton defence, is expected to undergo surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
Elfrid Payton holds his trophy for the most outstanding defensive player at the CFL awards ceremony last year. Payton will miss the entire 2003 season with a knee injury.(CP Photo/Ryan Remiorz)
Payton remains just eight sacks shy of tying the CFL sack record of 157 held by Grover Covington.
"This is just part of the game," Payton told the Edmonton Journalon Friday. "I have played professionally for 13 years, and I've been playing football since I was six-years-old. And I never had a major injury before now."
Payton's impact on the field, where he locks up opposing linemen and crunches enemy quarterbacks, is perhaps only equalled by his impact off the field. He is one of the team's leaders, constantly talking and encouraging his teammates on the sideline and in the locker room.
The loss of Payton will test the mettle of the Eskimos defence, especially after all-star linebacker Terry Ray was let go during training camp. He later signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Payton's injury not only affects the Eskimos defence, but it puts extra stress on sophomore quarterback Ricky Ray to produce offensively.
So far, Ray hasn't shown any signs of choking under the pressure.
Before Payton's injury Thursday, the Eskimos had just 138 yards of total offence during the first two quarters and Ray, the CFL's quarterback efficiency leader last season, made just one of his first five attempts.
That would quickly change.
Down 18-3 late in the second quarter, the green and gold scorched the Stamps for 31 straight points en route to victory.
Engineering Thursday's comeback was Ray, the 23-year-old former potato chip deliveryman.
Ray generated drives of 80, 69 and 90 yards, respectively (each ending in a touchdown), and finished the night 21-of-31 for 331 yards.
It's performances like that which the Eskimos expect from Ray this year.
In his rookie season with the Eskimos, Ray not only led the league in quarterback efficiency, but he helped the Eskimos to the Grey Cup final.
Not bad for a guy who barely attracted any interest when he graduated from Sacramento State University in 2001. After receiving no interest from professional football teams, aside from a quick tryout with the Calgary Stampeders, Ray decided to get on with his life, taking a job in the management-training program at Frito Lay.
Part of the training meant driving a delivery truck and re-stocking shelves at variety stores with Cheetos and Doritos.
But, when the San Francisco 49ers decided to give him another look, Ray decided to give football another shot. He didn't stick long with the 49ers, but soon ended up with Fresno Frenzy of the Arena Football League 2-- essentially the AFL's triple-A league. After a strong performance there he signed with the Eskimos in June 2002.
Looking down the Eskimos receiving corps, it's obvious Ray has several capable veteran targets, including Ed Hervey, Jason Tucker, Terry Vaughn and Rick Walters.
However, Ray's success is more than just having sticky-handed wideouts. It's about having composure under pressure -- something he has a lot of.
Ray will need that composure even more as the Eskimos continue the season without their biggest defensive threat.
