LOS ANGELES \u2014 The dial thermometer at the corner of the Coliseum crept toward its maximum reading of 100 degrees just two hours before the USC football team was set to take the field against San Jos\u00e9 State in its season opener.<\/p>\n
It was 94 degrees by kickoff, putting Saturday\u2019s record-high temperature into a tie for the hottest USC game ever played inside the Coliseum. The 14th-ranked Trojans walked away with a 42-26 victory over the Spartans<\/a>, but the post-game discourse about the attendance for the game quickly followed.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is USC. People are going to pay attention,\u201d Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday. \u201cPeople are going to have an opinion. It\u2019s part of being at a blue-blood school. I don\u2019t buy into the false narrative. I think that comes from a lot of people that don\u2019t follow our program, and most of those who have never set foot in the Coliseum.\u201d<\/p>\n Still photos of the NBC broadcast that showed scant crowds drew the ire of sports personality Dave Portnoy, who called the attendance an \u201cabsolute disgrace,\u201d and Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire weighed in during a press conference on Monday.<\/p>\n Red Raiders Athletics announced that it had sold out of its primary ticket inventory on Aug. 21 for the season opener against Abilene Christian, and a reporter asked him if he had given any thought to how important and special a sellout crowd is.<\/p>\n \u201cNot to take any shots \u2013 because I have a lot of respect for USC and Lincoln Riley \u2013 but, man, it\u2019s really awesome to be playing in Lubbock, Texas, knowing we\u2019re going to be playing in front of 60,000,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s going to be warm. It\u2019s going to be every bit as warm as it was Saturday. The great thing is, we got some really tough people in West Texas that love their football and they\u2019re going to show up no matter what the weather\u2019s like. There\u2019s not going to be any excuse of why they\u2019re not going to be there for us.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, first-year Cal coach Tosh Lupoi also shared his thoughts.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mean this by any disrespect to anybody, but to turn on the TV \u2026 to see that environment in Los Angeles, that\u2019s disheartening to see,\u201d Lupoi told reporters. \u201cI can guarantee you that\u2019s a completely different environment here.\u201d<\/p>\n The official attendance for the San Jos\u00e9 State game was announced as 51,144 (capacity: 77,500). Many fans sought out shade in the concourse as the humidity climbed to 74% toward the tail end of a National Weather Service-issued heat advisory<\/a>.<\/p>\n An LAFD spokesperson told Southern California News Group that it made 15 patient contacts, including one who was transported to a local hospital.<\/p>\n LAFD did not disclose how many of the medical emergencies were heat-related, but freshman receiver Ethan \u201cBoobie\u201d Feaster\u2019s father, Lee, gave his testimony of the weather on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cI see people talking,\u201d Feaster wrote in a post on X. \u201cWe are from The Boot and we live in TX, but Saturday was a different type of heat in LA \u2026 My wife has blisters. She passed out along with 15-20 other people in the medical tent.\u201d<\/p>\n USC has a shortened week of preparation and hosts Fresno State on Friday at 6 p.m. in a pre-Labor Day Weekend matchup. It will be a step up in competition from San Jos\u00e9 State, but the attention will be on the stands as much as it is between the white lines.<\/p>\n The Trojans averaged 67,782 fans per home game in 2025, which was slightly down from the average of 71,571 in 2024. Otherwise, attendance has increased since Riley\u2019s first season as head coach in 2022. It jumped to 64,484 that season and increased to 66,071 in 2023.<\/p>\n