Kirk Herbstreit calls out USC fans not filling stadium for home opener

Even Kirk Herbstreit is calling out USC fans after their poor showing at Trojans’ home opener last weekend. ESPN’s lead college football color commentor made sure to mention the attendance and excuses during the latest episode of his podcast, Nonstop with Kirk and Joey.

Herbstreit was complimentary of USC following their Week 0 win against San Jose State and said they need to start showing up because they’re going to be on the bandwagon when the team is in position to win the conference later this season.

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“First of all, USC fans, I don’t care what time the game is,” said Herbstreit. “I don’t care what the deal is, I don’t care how hot it is. Get your ass to the Coliseum. 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.”

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USC’s laughable attendanceAug 29, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley head coach Lincoln Riley Lincoln Riley Riley enters the field before the game against the San José State Spartans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)

Herbstreit is not alone in being unimpressed with the attendance on Saturday as only 51,000 fans showed up to support the 14th ranked team in the country. Even with the win, USC managed to become an early season punchline. And the administration’s defense for the low attendance only made it worse as Paul Finebaum went on “First Take” and accused the school of putting out AI generated garbage.

It’s hard to score 42 at home and post an incident-free victory and come out looking worse. If USC fans want to save their team from being made fun of they’re really going to need to turnout over the next two weeks as they host Fresno State and Louisiana. If fans don’t sell out the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before ranked teams start visiting they’ll never shake the fair-weather label.

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