"Nothing really changes," he said. "I always prepare as if I'm gonna play because you never know what's gonna happen in this league. Weird things happen all the time, so nothing really changes."
The waters-run-still demeanor of Bass has always worked in his favor, as does the fact that, this time, he'll be asked to step in at a position he has a lot of experience playing — from his days playing for the University of Oregon.
"Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable with it," Bass said. "I'd say like left guard is a lot easier for me to step in. It's a little more natural because that's all I played in college so, going back to that, it's a little more natural for me. I've been mostly at center throughout the camp because this is the first year I've really had to back up center, you know?
"I did have to put a little bit more preparation into \[left guard\] this week, and getting ready for that, just in case, but yeah, I feel pretty comfortable."
Time and again, head coach Brian Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams have praised Bass for his mentality, physicality and ability to save the day with little, and sometimes with zero, warning.
That's something Adams spoke about heading into the primetime bout against the Giants, the decision by the Cowboys' front office to apply a second-round tender and to ultimately re-sign Bass paying immediate dividends only a few months later.
"The discussions that we had in the offseason when we were trying to figure out exactly what his tender was going to be on an undrafted free agent, we asked ourselves, ' Would you be OK with this guy as your starter in this league?'
"We definitely feel that way. We look at him as if he is a starter. When he has to go in and play, just like he's going to have to go in the next several weeks,, we expect him to play starting and winning football for us."
A big test awaits Bass in his next start for the Cowboys, by way of the Giants' impressive defensive line and linebackers corps, but if history is any indication, he'll open more than a few eyes in New York and beyond.