By Stampeders.com staff

On Sept. 10, 1988, the Calgary Stampeders took on the Ottawa Rough Riders.

For the record, the Stamps won the game 17-16 in overtime but the main reason why that contest was notable was it came the year before a tradition was born — the Labour Day Rematch at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.

The Labour Day Classic at McMahon Stadium between the Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos has been a staple of the Canadian Football League schedule since 1969, with 1981 being the only season the Stamps played someone other than their provincial rival on the first Monday of September.

The rematch, by comparison, is a relatively recent addition to the Battle of Alberta tradition as it was first played in 1989 and has taken place every year since that season with the exception of 1992.

You’ll have to forgive the Stamps if they weren’t initially big fans of the Rematch — despite having some pretty good teams in the late ’80 and early ’90s, including a remarkable 15-3 record in two of those seasons, the Stamps lost the game the first five times it was played.

Things didn’t get much better after that as Calgary lost seven of the first eight rematches and was 4-13 in the back end of the home-and-home series through 2006.

Calgary has fared much better since then, however, and the Stamps now suddenly don’t mind the early-September trek to Commonwealth. The Stamps have won seven straight Rematch games including double-digit point differentials in three of the past four meetings.

Here’s a look back at some of the previous Rematch clashes:

In 2008, Calgary won their second straight Labour Day Rematch, on their way to their current seven in a row.

1989: The first Labour Day Rematch was played the year before the Wally Buono Era began in Calgary and the Stamps were still spending a lot of time looking up at the Eskimos in the standings.

Edmonton went into the game with an 8-1 record compared to a 5-4 mark for the Stamps and the Eskimos had beaten Calgary nine straight times at Commonwealth.

The Esks made it 10 in a row as Blake Marshall scored three touchdowns in a 38-27 Edmonton victory.

1995: After four more Labour Day Rematch losses by a combined margin of 90 points, the Stamps might have started thinking they’d be better off in Hamilton, Regina or Vancouver for their second September game. Anywhere but Edmonton.

That all changed in 1995, however, as the Stamps won their first ever Labour Day Rematch. With Jeff Garcia at the QB controls, Calgary soared to a 27-3 lead en route to a 33-17 victory. Defensive lineman DeWayne Patterson recovered a fumble in the end-zone for a Stampeders touchdown.

1999: After being upended 33-30 in overtime in the Labour Day Classic, the Stamps came back with a vengeance in the Rematch as they routed the Eskimos 38-13. Dave Dickenson threw for a whopping 457 yards and three touchdowns and also had a rushing score to lead the Red and White.

Jeremaine Copeland celebrates his game-winning TD with teammates in 2009.

2001: What was arguably the most famous moment in Rematch history — or infamous, from the Eskimos’ perspective — took place in the 2001 game. The Eskimos scored a late touchdown to take a 33-32 lead and chose to go for a two-point conversion to try and extend the lead to three. Instead, William Fields intercepted a Jason Maas pass and ran it 110 yards for two points and a 34-33 Calgary lead that held up.

2002-04: An ugly stretch for the Stamps as the Eskimos won three straight Rematch games by a combined score of 127-23. Though the Stamps were thumped 44-12 in the 2004 game, the Calgary defence took a small measure of consolation that night from being able to prevent Eskimos running back Mike Pringle from surpassing George Reed as the CFL’s all-time leading rusher.

2005: With Tom Higgins in his first year as Stamps head coach, Calgary snapped a three-game losing streak in the Rematch with a 16-11 victory. Calgary starter Henry Burris missed part of the game with a hand injury and backup Jason Gesser came off the bench to throw a critical touchdown pass to Ken-Yon Rambo.

Cornish was a big contributor to the 2012 win in Edmonton.

2008: After being thrashed 36-17 in the Labour Day Classic, the Stamps rebounded with a 38-33 victory in the Rematch four days later. Henry Burris had 323 passing yards and three touchdowns while Shannon James filled the stat sheet with seven tackles, one special-teams tackle, a sack, a forced fumble and a pick-six.

2009: Henry Burris connected with Jeremaine Copeland for the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds to play as the Stamps shaded the Eskimos 35-34 to claim sole possession of first place in the West Division. Calgary rallied from a disastrous third quarter in which they allowed the Eskimos to score 20 points and take a 34-20 lead.

2012: Jon Cornish ran for 185 yards and a touchdown to lead the Stamps to a 20-18 victory. Edmonton’s Grant Shaw had a chance to kick a game-winning field goal on the final play of the game but the attempt hit the upright and fell to the turf.