Nebraska-USC weekend is starting early for Bob Kment and his contingent of fellow travelers.
Kickoff is 1 p.m. local time Saturday in Los Angeles but their California fun begins with a tour of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Wednesday and a ferry ride to Catalina Island on Thursday. Dinner on the Santa Monica Pier and then Friday horseracing in Del Mar with a round of golf mixed in are also part of the days-long tailgate of sorts.
“The football game is the reason we go,†said Kment, a La Vista resident who organizes trips to an NU road game or two every fall. “It’s the highlight — or in some cases the lowlight if we get our clock cleaned — but we do a lot of other things too. We try to take in the sights along the way.â€
L.A. hasn’t been the backdrop for a Nebraska football game in a dozen years. The novelty of it in the first season of a coast-to-coast Big Ten — along with warm November weather and attractions that far exceed the typical Midwest college town — give Saturday the potential to showcase one of the larger migrations of Husker fans in recent memory.
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A full plane of 70 Nebraska backers as part of the Good-Life Tours run by Kment and business partner Gary Mixan hints at the possibility. They usually cap their excursions around 50-60 people but interest exploded after Big Red beat Colorado in early September.
Not every red-clad person in the Los Angeles Coliseum will come from long distances. California is home to the third-most Nebraska alums in the country, leaving the Californians for Nebraska organization to mobilize hundreds of fans for an in-person viewing instead of a standard televised watch party.
CFN president Kent Wiedel — a native of Hubbell, Nebraska, who has served in the volunteer role in southern California for all but two seasons since the turn of the century — said the group has two busses bringing more than 100 people coming to the game. At least 275 people in the chapter are attending overall.
The “Husker Huddle†pregame buffet and gathering put on by Nebraska’s alumni association is sold out at more than 1,000 people.
“It’s a really positive thing,†Wiedel said. “We’re so happy we’re almost guaranteed to have a game on the West Coast every year now.â€
Nebraska last kicked off in the Pacific Time Zone in 2017, a loss at Oregon. It last played in the Golden State in 2015, a victory over UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara. Its entire recent L.A. history consists of winning at UCLA in 1993, losing the national title game to Miami in the Rose Bowl in January 2002 and road setbacks at USC in 2006 and UCLA in 2012.
The two most recent journeys became Big Red invasions. The 2006 game brought an estimated 25,000 Husker fans as ESPN’s “College GameDay†broadcast from on site. USC officials reported then that 300 Trojans season-ticket orders were purchased using Nebraska zip codes.
“For the people who don’t know anything about Nebraska, the fans, they live and die with this program,†then-NU coach Bill Callahan said. “And I mean it.â€
The 2012 visit also drew roughly 25,000 NU faithful from an announced crowd of 71,530. Some fans attended a taping of Jay Leno during the leadup and extended their Labor Day weekend by a few sleeps.
Other Big Ten fanbases have swarmed L.A. already this season. Iowa fans made up more than half of the crowd of 53,000 at UCLA last Friday night. Last month Minnesota drew around 15,000 attendees for its first visit to the Rose Bowl since 1962, prompting coach P.J. Fleck to give the crowd a symbolic game ball for making a difference late in a 21-17 win.
USC announced sellouts for home games against Wisconsin and Nebraska by mid-September. The school drew unwanted headlines recently when a Penn State fan decked out in blue and white gear spent upwards of $1,800 to be part of the “Ultimate Trojan Experience†that includes walking behind the home team as it takes the field before a game.
The school still lists the offer for Saturday’s Nebraska contest at $1,100. Standard game tickets are readily available on the secondary market for under $50 apiece as of midweek.
The NU ticket office has received requests for approximately 6,200 tickets for the school’s allotment of 3,000, a program spokesperson said. Nebraska for months has encouraged fans to turn to online resale vendors as demand exceeded its supply.
Huskers coach Matt Rhule said a strong road presence limits the need for silent cadences on offense and allows for easier communication during sideline huddles. He called fan impact “elite.†The best recent fan showing remains the 2019 Colorado game when red tinged or dominated the majority of Folsom Field.
“Our fans show up and they make being on the road fun,†Rhule said. “… I’m certain that they’ll be there.â€
Exactly what they’ll do before and after the game is part of the appeal. First-timers can check out the nearby “Hollywood†sign and cruise Rodeo Drive. Disneyland is an hour’s drive away. Beaches and restaurants abound.
Wiedel said he recommends Nebraska bars in the area including Jax in Studio City and Danny K’s Café & Billiards in Orange. A pro tip for any planning: Always allow for plenty of time in traffic thicker than anything in Omaha or Lincoln.
“It’s not the mileage, it’s the time of day,†Wiedel said. “It might be 5 miles away but it could be an hour.â€
Kment took groups to Nebraska’s last two Los Angeles episodes, both losses. Ahead of what will be the 47th road trip for Good-Life Tours, he said the Huskers are 17-29 during their visits.
Travel insurance can’t cover every kind of risk.
“We usually disclose Nebraska’s record to our group when we get on the plane,†Kment said. “We’re glad you’re here but we’re not going to guarantee a victory.â€
