The trio was among 17 players released Saturday as CFL teams made their final cuts to reduce their rosters to 46 players. The ‘08 season begins Thursday with the Montreal Alouettes visiting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Calgary Stampeders hosting the B.C. Lions.

Some players released Saturday could still end up sticking around as CFL clubs can carry as many as seven players on their practice roster.

“It (final cutdown) is never a good day,” said Eskimos had coach/GM Danny Maciocia. “It’s never anything you take pleasure in doing.

“But we’re no different than seven other teams that have to get down to a number and these are moves that have to happen.”

The six-foot, 205-pound Loftus was entering his 11th CFL season and fourth with Edmonton. Last season, he appeared in all 18 games with the Eskimos, who missed the playoffs for the second straight year, starting four at safety.

Loftus, 33, of Vancouver, finished the season with 32 defensive tackles, six special-teams tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception. Loftus was originally drafted by Montreal in the third round (18th overall) in 1998 and appeared in 111 games for the Alouettes over seven seasons before joining the Eskimos in 2005, helping the club win the Grey Cup that season. In all, Loftus appeared in three Grey Cup games.

Releasing popular McClendon, entering his fourth season with the club, was especially tough considering he’s also the Eskimos’ community relations co-ordinator. The five-foot-eight, 195-pound running back appeared in six games last season, starting five.

McClendon, 27, had 198 yards rushing and a TD in 2006 in a game versus Montreal.

“The free safety position is an import position so if William was going to make our team it was going to have to be on special teams and number of our young players had performed very well,” Maciocia said. “The problem with Ron was he got hurt early on in training camp and was never able to come back unfortunately.”

Stokes, entering his seventh CFL season, joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers late last season, playing in the final two regular-season games, two playoff contests and Grey Cup game. He accumulated 468 all-purpose yards in the playoffs, including an 80-yard punt return for a TD in Winnipeg’s 19-9 East Division final win over Toronto. Stokes was the CFL’s outstanding special-teams player in ‘04.

Also released were kickers Warren Kean - the second player taken in the ‘07 CFL draft - and Derek Shiavone (not surprising given the presence of veteran punter-kicker Noel Prefontaine), offensive linemen Adam Rogers, Terriss Paliwoda and Daniel Barlow, defensive lineman Jean-Luis Michael, running back A.J. Harris, quarterback Tyler Donovan, linebacker T.J. Hollowell, receivers Dante Luciani, Greg Prator and Jermaine Jamison and defensive backs Jonathan Hood and Bradley Robinson.

The Eskimos also placed defensive lineman Adam Braidwood on the nine-game injured list, meaning the earliest he can return to action is at the midway point of the season.

Defensive lineman Terrence Patrick, linebacker Trey Young and cornerback Crance Clemons were among 16 players released by the Calgary Stampeders. Patrick, Young and Clemons were all returnees to the CFL club. Also let go was receiver Nate Curry, a former Kansas City Chief and Hamilton Tiger-Cat.

“Trey was the hardest one to make,” said Stampeders head coach/GM John Hufnagel. “He’s a very good football player and a good guy but we have a lot of depth at linebacker and with the way we decided to set up the roster, he became a victim of numbers.

“With Terrence, we tried him at the quick end but Mike Labinjo and Justin Phillips came into camp and performed really well. We moved Terrence inside to see how he could compete there, but he didn’t play good enough to earn a job. Crance was hurt for much of camp and Dwight Anderson beat him for the (cornerback) job.”

The B.C. Lions released defensive lineman Brandon Ala, receivers Roosevelt Kiser and Jesse Holley, offensive linemen Andrew Jones and Brad Kunz and defensive back Ahmaad Smith.

Montreal let 16 players go, including receiver Brad Smith, the son of club president Larry Smith. The Alouettes also placed quarterback Marcus Brady, receivers Elijah Thurmon and Ben Cahoon, safety Mathieu Proulx, running backs Mike Vilimek, Jarrett Payton and Mike Imoh on the one-week injured list. Canadian-born offensive lineman Jeff Keeping was one of three players put on the nine-week injured list.

Former NFL running back Quentin Griffin and veteran defensive back Tad Kornegay were among 20 players released by the Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Riders also learned that defensive lineman Keith Shologan, who they selected in the first round of this year’s CFL draft, was released by the NFL’s San Diego Chargers.

Other notable Canadians released by NFL clubs were cornerback Clare Farnsworth by Seattle (CFL rights owned by Montreal) tight end Teyo Johnson by Buffalo (CFL rights owned by Calgary).

Hamilton released 15 players, including offensive linemen Jordan Rempel and Eric Ince, who they selected 12th and 13th overall, respectively, in the 2007 Canadian college draft. The Ticats also placed safety Dylan Barker, who they selected first overall in this year’s draft, on the nine-game injured list with a broken leg.

Veteran CFL receiver O’Neil Wilson, defensive backs Greg Moss and Sebastien Clovis and former Hec Crighton Trophy-winning running back Darryl Stephenson were among 25 players released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The club also placed offensive lineman Ibrahim Khan and receiver Milt Stegall on the disabled list and defensive lineman Matt Kudu on the nine-game injured list.