The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York set a hearing date of Dec. 1 for Elliott's expedited appeal, Kate Hairopoulos of The Dallas Morning News reports.

After Thursday's setback, there was a sliver of hope Elliott would somehow find a legal loophole to continue playing, but this decision all but guarantees he'll miss the next four games. As a result, his return date will range from Week 14 (Dec. 10 at the Giants) to Week 16 (Dec. 24 against the Seahawks), thereby hindering both the Cowboys' playoff hopes and those of fantasy owners. In the meantime, Dallas will rely on Alfred Morris, Rod Smith and Darren McFadden to keep up a semblance of a ground game.