No different than death and taxes. Or gout and scurvy. Drought and pestilence.

“Or,”  chimes in safety Josh Bell, always ready, willing and uniquely able to lend a storyline a helping hand, “the guillotine and the firing squad.”

Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker.

Together, they represent Edmonton’s most hair-raising double-bill since the Mindbender and Sonic Twister went into operation in Galaxyland out at the big mall on the west side of town.

Both continue to flirt with the record 2,036 receiving yards amassed by former Stamps star Allen Pitts way back in 1994.

Bowman would’ve been nine years old living in Chattanooga, Tenn., when Pitts put in his touchstone season, Walker seven and playing ball in the playgrounds of Hillsboro, Tex.

Naturally, the Bowman-Walker double-dip is generating a lion’s share of the attention ahead of Monday’s annual Labour Day Classic against the Eskimos at McMahon Stadium.

Each has recently fallen off the pulsating Pitts pace ever-so-slightly — Bowman currently on target for 1,912 yards, Walker 1,774 — but a couple of monster games by one or the other, or both, and they’re right back in the conversation.

As a comparable at the seasonal halfway point, though, Bowman’s 965 yards are actually marginally ahead of Pitts’ nine-game ’94 aggregate of 902.

So, stay tuned.

“With the those two guys,’’ continues Bell, “it’s all about targets. I mean, if I got the ball thrown to me 16 times a game, I should at least catch seven or eight for 70 or 80 yards.

“But they’re dangerous. Very dangerous. You let down your guard …”

In that touchstone season Pitts established the yardage record, he tore Edmonton’s defensive backfield into jagged strips on Labour Day Monday, latching onto 10 Doug Flutie tosses for 154 yards and a touchdown as the Stamps made mincemeat of the Eskies, 48-15.

Muzzling Bowman and Walker could be as a testing a chore for the Stampeder D as was No. 18 for Edmonton’s resistance 22 years ago.

“It’s uncommon to see two guys on one team getting the number of catches they are getting and the yards they’re putting up,’’ acknowledges defensive back Joe Burnett, a teammate of Bowman’s for three seasons in green and gold.

“I’m obviously more familiar with Adarius. And he’s always a handful. I can think back, shoot, to games last year, one particular deep ball against me. I actually broke on it well, thought I was going to at least knock it down and if you look at the play, the ball lies on his shoulder and then he comes down with the ball even after I swatted at it.

“It’s plays like that, you know he’s going to be locked in and you have to make a great play.”

While the danger presented by the Bowman-Walker is very tangible, Stamps secondary coach Kahlil Carter cautions against allowing the gaudy stats to mess with the heads of his group.

“Those guys are both tall, they can both run, can both high-point the ball, great against man-to-man coverage and they have both a real trust factor going on with Reilly,’’ says Carter.

“So it’s going to be a challenge. But thing is, they have two and we have six. I’ll take my six against anybody. Jerry Rice. You name it. Doesn’t matter.

“We’ll go out on the field and play ball. It’s Labour Day. Labour Day is always a big deal in the CFL.

“Edmonton has proven (itself) to be a formidable opponent. They beat us three times last year. That’s all I remember: A great Edmonton team that stopped us from getting a Grey Cup ring.

“So I know my guys will be up for the challenge this week as we try to duplicate their success of last year.”

First-year cornerback Tommie Campbell echoes the defiant, beat-us-if-you-can philosophy of his position coach.

“On paper, they’ve got the most yards and the most targets,” he says. “But a lot of their big plays come off scrambles. So the important thing for us is to keep their quarterback in the pocket and not let him extend plays and take shots down the field.

“They’re good players. But they ain’t nobody special.

“They get up in the morning, wash their face, brush their teeth and go to the bathroom just like I do.”

There remains a half a season to go and many miles of synthetic grass to be covered before either Bowman or Walker can seriously be considered ready to topple Allen Pitts.

But the tantalizing possibility remains.

A Pitts pitch-and-catch partner of a later vintage than ’94, current Stamps’ boss Dave Dickenson, sees pros and cons in their quest.

“Both Bowman and Walker,’’ lauds Dickenson, “are such smooth route runners for big men.

“Al, same. You couldn’t tell what route he was runnin’ over the first 10 yards. You just had no clue because he had this great forward lean, never broke down, just rolled everything.

“I personally think there’s more throwing now than when Al played. I don’t remember Allen Pitts catching a lot of these little hitch-screens. Everything then was downfield and required great timing.

“And the rules today make it easier, too. Back then, receivers had to fight through a lot more. People might forget but Al was a big, physical guy. DBs tried to jam and they couldn’t because he was so strong.

“As a quarterback, Flutie was certainly in a class of his own and Al being able to play with him certainly didn’t hurt.

“Another one of the advantages Al had is that defences of that time weren’t ready for the five-receiver set. They used a lot of three linebackers and four DBs. Now the SAM linebacker is basically an extra DB, so the field seems more congested.

“But harder or easier, then or now? It’s hit and miss.

“Tough to compare.”

Success for the 7-1-1 Stamps and they maintain a three-point gap between themselves and the BC Lions atop the CFL’s West Division.

To do so, they’ll need to slap the cuffs on Bowman and Walker; place them under house arrest.

“Both those guys you’re talking about,’’ says Bell, who always reminds you of the cat with the largest bowl of cream, “got what anybody wants in a receiver: Size and speed.

“And they got (Mike) Reilly. Reilly likes his toys.

“Like that toy train and the Lego set you played with as a kid, right?

“Those guys, they’re Reilly’s favourite toys.

“It’s up to us to take away his toys.”