BY PERRY LEFKO
sportsnet.ca

Who is JC Sherritt and what do his initials stand for?

The 23-year-old rookie linebacker made an instant impact in his first-ever Canadian Football League regular-season game with a league-leading 11 tackles in the Edmonton Eskimos' surprising 42-28 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders this past Sunday. No other player had more than seven tackles in the opening week.

"You never really expect to get that many tackles (in the first game)," Sherritt told Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday. "I just wanted to focus on my assignment. "Being in the regular season, the speed change was going a bit different from what I'd seen in pre-season. Any game you play you're going to have to get plays and get the feel of the game. Let's say the way our scheme was designed, a lot of things bounced back to my position and a lot of things were funneled my way. It's just one of those games where you've got to step up and make tackles."

Sherritt made a lot of tackles at Eastern Washington University. He was 10th overall in the nation last year with 158 and was voted the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division 1-AA. He had 135 tackles the year before and was the runner-up for the same award. He is Eastern Washington's all-time career leader in total tackles and second in all-time tackles all time in the Big Sky Conference.

But at slightly under 5-10 and weighing between 205-215 pounds, the native of Truckee, California did not have the physique to play in the National Football League.

"Off the field, it's true he looks like he should be an assistant on our equipment staff, but put him in pads and JC becomes a tackling machine, making plays sideline to sideline," Eskimos' general manager Eric Tillman said. "Our league has a history of success with terrific football players who simply did not fit the NFL prototype size wise. Michael Clemons, Matt Dunigan, Doug Flutie, Dan Kepley, Willie Pless, Charles Roberts and so many others have excelled in the CFL because we judged them by their talent, not their height. After only one game, obviously, I'm not putting JC in the category with those men, who all had elite CFL careers, but like them he doesn't let his lack of size define him. The same attributes that impressed me when he was playing at Eastern Washington were evident in his play against the Riders on Sunday. JC has tremendous instincts and he plays with leverage and great energy."

Tillman put Sherritt on the team's negotiation list after watching him in the FCS playoffs last year and signed him in April.

"I'm just fortunate go get a shot up here," Sherritt said. "I know a lot of stuff, especially now, is based on what you do run (in the 40-yard dash time test) and how tall you are and things like that. When Mr. Tillman gave me a call, I was really pleased and happy to get up here. The more I've been in this country and been around this (CFL game), I just feel like it's a blessing."

Sherritt received an education of the Eskimos and their championship history from defensive end Greg Peach, an Edmonton teammate and teammate in university and also a Buck Buchanan Award winner. Sherritt's university head coach Torey Hunter played for the Eskimos for three seasons.

"Since I've been here it's just been awesome to hear about this tradition, and being in the city and the facilities it's been a great experience," he said.

That information aside, Sherritt isn't volunteering his first two given names.

"There's no way I can give that up," he said with a hearty laugh. "I have about eight reporters in Spokane, Washington who would be pretty mad if I gave it up now. Only one guy knows and that's because he had a really funny name and he told me what his initials were. We vowed to keep it a secret."

Several people have tried to guess what the initials stand for, some suggesting Johnny Cash, Jean-Claude, Jiminy Cricket and, yes, even the most famous JC of all, the guy from the Bible.

"You name it, I've heard it," Sherritt said. "It's not even that bad of a name, but I have two older sisters and whenever they got mad at or I got in trouble, they would call me by my full name."

All of his Edmonton teammates know his first name, but only a couple know the full name - and nothing will change.

"I'm holding on to that one as long as I can," he said. "I think I'm going to keep that a secret no matter what happens this year."

Hmmn. How about Jimmy Connors?

Just guessing.