Johnny, Jeremiah. Either. Or.

All the same to DeVone Claybrooks (at least, that’s his story and he’s sticking to it).

Could just as easily be some nondescript named Biff or Skip or Scooter settling in behind centre (at least, that’s his story and he’s sticking to it).

“My guys are chomping at the bit because it’s Week One,’’ promises the big man with the fashionably tilted ballcap, in charge of shoring up defensive fortifications for the Stampeders.

“Because we get to go out there and hit people.

“Not because it’s Manziel.

“He’s a talented guy, obviously. But the plays are gonna be the same. Masoli, Manziel … one guy might read things a bit differently is all.

“We’re treating this as any other game. We’ve gotta keep the quarterback in the cup and stop the run to be able to get after the passer.

“Those are prerequisites, requirements, no matter who’s out there in the charge of the (opposition) offence.”

Usually, a fella has to run away from home to join the circus.

Well, in this instance, the circus comes into town – no calliopes, cotton candy or multiple clowns cart-wheeling out of baby-sized cars, but a circus nonetheless – on Friday, 24 hours before the 2018 CFL seasonal curtain-raiser at McMahon Stadium against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

It’s Johnny Football’s regular-season CFL debut, after two years away from the game.

Why, crumpling the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner/two-year Cleveland Brown like a piece of origami is apt to get a fella some ESPN Sports Center love or a shout-out in the pages of, say, USA Today.

“Any time you get publicity, it’s good publicity,’’ reasons Claybrooks. “I think he brings a spotlight to the league, so there might be more eyes on us now. We’re all fine with that.

“People are interested in him. Great. But that’s got nothing to do with us, with how we go about our business.”

Rush end James Vaughters will be one of those chasing the 25-year-old former Texas A&M star.

“A sack’s a sack,’’ reckons the Stanford alumnus, shrugging. “The name on the back of the jersey really doesn’t matter. It’s just a matter of us putting our best product on the field.”

From a TiCats perspective, early reviews on Manziel adapting to a decidedly different game and scraping off a goodly amount of rust are generally positive. In two exhibition warm-up looks, he finished 21 of 31 for 168 yards, one TD toss and no picks.

If nothing else, Johnny Football has ratcheted up the curiosity level a few notches.

“We chase quarterbacks around all season,” said Vaughters. “That’s what we do for a living.”

With long-serving sack master Charleston Hughes having moved one provincial border east, Vaughters figures to play a more prominent role in this, his second full-time season wearing the Red & White.

“He’s a pro’s pro,’’ says Claybrooks. “Still relatively young, still learning the game. Mace (now the Stamps’ D-line coach) is doing a superb job with him, as well as the rest of the vets in the room.

“He bought into what we’re saying and he’s excelling.”

A year ago, Vaughters – registering six quarterback sacks, 15 QB pressures in 17 appearances and eight starts – showed immense potential.

“I’m not so much looking for an acceleration so much as trying to perfect my process, the way I approach the game,” he tells you. “The work I put into it in the off-season is what I think makes me want to get out here.

“Pre-season camp is nothing but working the moves I worked on all off-season and try to get to the point when it’s game-time, it’s a lot easier, second nature.

“My goal is to be a more complete player.

“The joy of a sack, in my mind, doesn’t come with the actual sack itself. As I said before, it’s in seeing the process you’ve designed, the work you’ve put in during that process, pay off.”

Maybe it’ll pay off Saturday against Manziel.