Hello, Ottawa fans. Easy does it. You’re okay. Trevor Harris is reportedly fine and will be ready for the season opener. You can remove the paper bag from over your mouth and nose and resume normal breathing.

Here are this week’s takeaways.

1. IT’S NEVER TO EARLY FOR A PLAY OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE

Hard to imagine that a pre-season game in June could give us a candidate for play of the year, but here we are. How else could you describe the incredible run against Hamilton by Toronto Argonauts’ running back hopeful Brandon Burks?

He’s caught. He’s not. He’s caught. He’s not. A little hurdle. A dance step or two. Did I see a moonwalk in there? He’s caught again. He’s not again. Reverse your field. Accelerate and head for the pylon.

Last year was the year of the catch. Is Burks’ eye-popper a harbinger of things to come in 2018? The year of the rush? Rise up, ground game gallopers. The bar has been set. The stage is yours. I look forward to your responses… and we have one!

Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who rushed a total of three times last season, called his own number on a two-yard touchdown run on Friday night. Oh, it’s on.

2. YOU CAN’T “OUT-COOL” MIKE FILER

Mike Filer absolutely could have played an undercover narc on a 70’s TV cop show. #CFLGameDay pic.twitter.com/J0qgSxMv7g

— Don Landry 🏈 (@CFLLandry) June 2, 2018

Look at that guy. He could land ongoing employment as background beef in all of the diss track videos to come. Drake should have him on retainer.

Think Childish Gambino’s “This is America” video couldn’t be any more mind-blowing? C’mon. Imagine if Donald Glover had Filer continually popping up in the background scenes, arms folded, slightly shaking his head. Look at the expression on his face there. It says “I need absolutely nothing from you. But you need everything from me. You’re welcome.” It also kinda says “I have Saul Goodman on speed dial.”

Think you can outdo him CFL stars? Then do it. I dare you. Mike Filer’s expression dares you. His Quentin Tarantino villain ‘stache dares you. I would like nothing more than to have an ongoing series, this season, on CFL stars trying to out-cool Mike Filer, so pitter patter, let’s get at ‘er. Looking at you, Sean Whyte. Next time Mike Reilly is doing a halftime interview, cozy up beside him and drop me some of that curling club cool. Landry out.

3. A HEAVY WORKLOAD MIGHT BE IN THE CARDS

Williams carries the ball during the Stampeders pre-season game against BC on Friday (The Canadian Press)

Terry Williams got our attention during his first year with the Calgary Stampeders in 2017. The 26-year-old running back had limited reps behind Jerome Messam and Roy Finch, but when he got sixteen rushes against Montreal in Week 15, he proved a glutton when he accrued 156 yards and three touchdowns.

The Stamps knew they’d be going forward without Messam in 2018, but that they’d have to go without superb kick returner Roy Finch as well came as a surprise. That part of the equation may mean even busier game nights for Williams.

Williams can return punts and kicks, too, and did a bit of that last year. Did some more during Friday night’s pre-season loss to the BC Lions, and he looked good in all areas, although he had merely five rushes (averaging an ostentatious 9.5 per).

If Williams is the main man in the Stampeders’ backfield this season, but also proves to be their best at lugging back returns, he might be in for touches galore in 2018.

If he’s resilient enough, we might have the recipe for a new kid on the block in the combined yards derby.

4. YUP, THE NEW GUY HAS POTENTIAL

There were a few things that didn’t go so smoothly, as expected. Like leaving the field with zeroes on the game clock but with one more play to go in the half. However, quarterback Johnny Manziel’s debut with the Ticats did show us a thing or two about a thing or two.

Running to his right and throwing across his body. Running to his left and throwing away from his body. Some zip on the wide side fling. Escapability, showcased on a scramble and a 29-yard completion while on the run. There’s some similarity to the way Doug Flutie played the game.

Now, before you get all hot and bothered about that comment, I am not for one second predicting that Johnathan Manziel is the second coming of the greatest quarterback to play in the CFL (You CAN get hot and bothered about that statement if you’re a Warren Moon fan), or that he is embarking on an Outstanding Player Award laden career.

I’m merely noting some style and ability similarities that are promising, nothing more.

The biggest question mark for Manziel remains and that is: Just how tightly and properly screwed on is his head? If that continues to be answered in positive fashion as the season progresses, then a decent pre-season debut may flower into something special, indeed.

But only if Manziel takes to heart what we already know and that is that so many decent – and better than that – debuts by aspiring CFL quarterbacks have subsequently evaporated into the mists of time.

5. MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE WATER

The BC Lions hadn’t won in Calgary in quite a long time, so even a pre-season victory is something to be proud of. No one said it, I don’t believe, but the team’s crashing of a Kamloops aqua-fitness class earlier in the week might need to be a new game week ritual.

Chain crawls? Tractor tire flips? Box jump? Roundhouse punches to a frozen side of beef? Pffft. Gimme a break. Hop waist-deep into a pool, crank up “Mambo No. 5” and find your happy place, man.

This just in: The day after their Calgary win, the Lions crashed a wheelchair basketball game. So if they beat Winnipeg this week, aqua-fit can hit the dustbin.

It’s like the BC Lions decided, late one night over a round of fancy drinks, that “this year, I’m a new me and I’m gonna be open to anything and everything!”

Next up: the BC Lions storm a local pub’s karaoke night. The week after that, clay sculpting. Then, it’s pickle ball, canoe dancing (Google it, you’re gonna love it), then cheese rolling, tree shaping, larping, quilting….

AND FINALLY…

Maybe giving up the football ten times in a pre-season game isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Is there such a thing as a turnover cleanse?