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<li><p>Driving from San Diego to meet my son for home football games and understand we have to enter through the student gate. How early before game start time should I arrive and would appreciate any tips on where to park.</p></li>
<li><p>If i decide to take Amtrak to Union Station what is the best way to get to the coliseum and close to student access gate? </p></li>
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<p>Thanks very much for any help.</p>
<p>1) Many students arrive last minute at game time, if you want to see the band perform the pregame show, I’d say that you should arrive at least an hour before game time. However, this season we are ranked in the top 3 in the preseason polls so I’d expect the crowds to be bigger this year so you might have to come early to get a better seat. The student section is first come first serve and the best seats closest to the middle of the field require you to come a little earlier than the majority of students.</p>
<p>2) Take the Red/Purple line from union station 3 stops to 7th St/Metro Center then transfer to the Expo line which will take you 4 stops to the Expo Park/USC station.</p>
<p>Half the students are tailgating on campus so they all arrive pretty close to kickoff while the other half all try to there early so they can wait in line to get seats in the lower rows of the student section (section 25 & 26 primarily). I think they open the gates for students 2 hours prior to kickoff but some of the game days will have really really hot weather so I wouldn’t suggest sitting in line that long cause there won’t be any shade inside the coliseum when you sit down. </p>
<p>Parking can be a nightmare and expensive and I wouldn’t be surprised if it would be cheaper to take amtrak & the subway from union station to campus versus paying for gas and parking to drive up.</p>
<p>The Oregon and Notre Dame games are already sold out. It was posted on another site that all home games other than those two are at 85,000 already. </p>
<p>The metro system is now in service. Check out the times as there may be special schedules on game days. It may be an option to drive up EARLY and park at a station you select ahead of time, park there and take the metro.</p>