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After starting 1-6, the Edmonton Elks have won three straight and head to Calgary on Monday for the annual Labour Day Classic as the hottest team in the league.

Head coach Mark Kilam, who spent two decades with the Stampeders in various capacities, is leading the turnaround in his first season with the Elks.

With strong play from veteran quarterback Cody Fajardo, who replaced incumbent starter Tre Ford midway through the team’s Week 6 loss to the BC Lions, Edmonton is hoping to make noise in a tight West Division.

While catching the 7-3 Stamps is a long shot, the Elks could possibly earn a crossover berth, given the East Division’s struggles.

Kilam spoke with TSN’s Salim Valji this week about his first season as a CFL head coach, the club’s turnaround, and his time with the Stampeders.

TSN: How have the first few months on the job been?

Kilam: “It's been great. I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I've been going hard since I got hired in December. So it doesn't really feel like the first few months on the job, but it's like I said, it feels like I am where I'm supposed to be.”

TSN: That's got to be a pretty settling feeling.

Kilam: “Yeah. I don't really have a lot of time to reflect on it. I think I did when I first got hired, but once you get into season, the focus shifts to, ‘How are we getting better each and every day?’ That's what my focus has been.”

TSN: The team started 1-6, and you've turned the corner. Can you talk me through that start and what was going through your mind at the time?

Kilam: “I think our process. We've stayed pretty consistent with it. It's correcting the things that need to be corrected, building on the positives, and trying to carry those into the next week. We weren't getting the results that we wanted, the end results early in the season. But since then, we haven't tried to change [anything]. We tried to just do what we do better.”

TSN: What gave you faith that things would turn around?

Kilam: “Well, we just have faith in the coaching staff, faith in the players in the room. It wasn't just football that was new. It was an entirely new admin team. It was an entirely new ops department. So, we were working through the kinks of how everyone worked together to find our best practices. But we just stayed true to what we believe in.”

TSN: What were the reasons for this turnaround?

Kilam: “Offensively, we've been a little bit of a different team since Cody took over. Defensively, we've been improving each and every week. Those guys evolved together as a staff. They evolved together as a group on the field. Special teams have been pretty consistent throughout but there were things that we want we needed to correct as well in that, and then once we started playing together, all three sides of the ball contributing, I think that's when we turned the corner.”

TSN: You also had a lot of changes on the field, some prominent free agents coming in. How did you foster that chemistry early on?

Kilam: “You have a plan in the off-season, and then you just try to carry it out on a week-to-week basis…it was a combination of a lot of different factors, and trying to create an atmosphere that we want guys to be a part of.”

TSN: You mentioned Cody. That was a big decision for you early in your head coaching career. What went into that and how you manage that situation?

Kilam: “We were thinking about it as the process was going on, how we were investing the reps on offence. We weren't getting the result on the field that we wanted, so we put it up for a competition in the week, and obviously Cody took the reins, and we haven't looked back since then.”

TSN: You're coming to Calgary in a in a few days. How do you look back on your tenure here in Calgary?

Kilam: “Grateful for the opportunity I had when I was there.”

TSN: Can you speak to the challenge of moving past that?

Kilam: “I don't have a comment, really, on that. I'm here where I'm supposed to be.”

TSN: Is there, is there a moment for you that that stands out, like a "welcome to the head coaching fraternity" type of moment?

Kilam: “In December, when I got hired, I did feel incredibly supported, not only from my peers, but from other people that had been through the business. Guys like Wally Buono reached out, but also my peers. A lot of support. A lot of people were happy for me getting this opportunity.”

TSN: Lastly, what are the keys to continuing this progress and success that you've had recently?

Kilam: “We just take it one week at a time. So, we're playing a divisional rival in a Labour Day Classic, and we are chasing them in the standings. The next game on our schedule happens to be against someone that we have to beat to get to where we're going. That's the process.”

Catch the Stamps and Elks on Monday at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT on TSN 1 and 4.