USC Football Tickets vs. Louisiana Drop to New Low as Big Ten Play Nears

Attendance has been a major storyline surrounding the USC Trojans in 2026. In Week 0, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum made headlines for appearing relatively empty, and the crowd seemed to improve slightly the following week against Fresno State.

The Trojans will look to continue seeing more fans in the Coliseum as they close out non-conference play Saturday, Sept. 12, against the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. USC is riding an 11-game home winning streak and enters the matchup ranked No. 14 in the country.

USC football tickets Louisiana Ragin Cajuns Trojans Week 3 Coliseum college football Lincoln Riley 2026 schedule betting — Sep 4, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans white horse mascot Travler with rider Dana Kanstul lights the Olympic torch in the fourth quarter against the Fresno State Bulldogs at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

According to USC's official ticket website, single-game tickets for Saturday's matchup start at $50, with the next tier beginning at $60. Some of the best remaining seats are listed between $150 and $200. On the secondary market, however, tickets are significantly cheaper. Vivid Seats currently has tickets starting around $14, with the get-in price dropping from $24 earlier in the week to $16.

The low ticket prices make Saturday's matchup arguably the most affordable opportunity to see the Trojans at home before ticket prices begin to climb as Big Ten play gets underway.

Louisiana is a less exciting opponent on paper than the teams USC will see later this season, and the ticket prices certainly reflect that. But this is also a USC team that is off to a strong start and is quickly putting itself in position to make a run at the College Football Playoff.

The Trojans' next home game is against Oregon, and tickets currently start around $125 on SeatGeek. Washington tickets start around $72, and Ohio State tickets are going for around $248. USC will close out its home schedule against Maryland, where tickets currently start around $33.

There is a clear difference between the cost of seeing USC play Louisiana and the cost of seeing the Trojans take on some of the Big Ten's biggest names. And after home games against Oregon and Ohio State, along with a road matchup against Indiana, it also becomes less clear what USC will be playing for by the time Maryland comes to town.

For fans who want to see this year's USC team in person without paying a premium for a marquee Big Ten matchup, Saturday could be the best opportunity left.

USC Attendance Remains a Talking Point

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and USC’s fan base have made headlines early in the season for the wrong reasons. Despite the Trojans looking like one of the most complete teams in the country through the first two weeks and having a legitimate path to a College Football Playoff berth, game attendance has not reflected that excitement.

Week 0’s announced crowd of 51,114 was the second-lowest attendance at the Coliseum in the past decade, per CBS Sports. Attendance slightly increased the following week against Fresno State to 53,014, but the actual crowd may have been smaller than that.

According to the California Post, only 35,585 people scanned through the gates for the San José State game, which is 15,559 fewer fans than the number USC announced as “tickets out.” That number counts tickets sold but does not include others on site, such as stadium staff, band members and credentialed media, per the Post.

The scan count rose to 45,833 for the Fresno State game.

Following the Week 0 attendance numbers, plenty of people took to social media to voice their thoughts and concerns about what the lack of attendance could say about USC’s fan culture. Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit also weighed in on the situation, calling the scene “embarrassing,” though his criticism was not necessarily directed at the football program itself.

The Trojans have taken the steps needed to put themselves in position to compete at the highest level. They are 2-0, ranked No. 14 in the country, and have arguably looked like one of, if not the most promising teams of the Lincoln Riley era. For Herbstreit, the issue was that the fan base has not matched that level of excitement or support.

“I mean, that’s embarrassing for USC to play in front of a half-empty stadium, and you’re going to jump on the bandwagon because this team is going to be in the mix for the Big Ten. They’re going to play in a lot of big games. So let’s get out to the Coliseum and watch this team,” Herbstreit said on Nonstop.

Lincoln Riley Pushes Back on Attendance Narrative

Despite the football program making seemingly more headlines for its attendance than its actual games, Lincoln Riley pushed back on the idea that the lack of fans in the Coliseum is a major concern in Southern California.

“This is USC, right? People are going to pay attention, and people are going to have an opinion. That's part of being a blue-blood school. I don't buy into the false narrative,” Riley said. “I think that comes from a lot of people that don't follow our program, and most of those who have never stepped foot in the Coliseum."

"The reality is, during my years here, the attendance has gone up every single year here, as has our play in the Coliseum, including running the table last year in front of a lot of epic atmospheres," he continued. "And I expect that to happen again this year.”

However, the recent numbers tell a more complicated story. USC’s average attendance increased from 64,487 in 2022 to 71,571 in 2024, but dropped to 67,783 in 2025, per CBS Sports.

There is also a difference between the overall attendance numbers and what USC has been able to draw for its biggest games. The Coliseum has still produced strong crowds and memorable atmospheres for marquee matchups, but the early-season attendance numbers have raised questions about whether that same level of excitement exists for every game.

Despite that, Riley remains confident the attendance will follow the team’s progress on the field.

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