USC has done everything it can to generate as much attention around the Trojans' spring game next Saturday as possible.

It's going to be nationally televised on ESPN, and for the local fans, admission is free -- season-ticket holders and students have already had complimentary tickets uploaded to their respective accounts, and all other fans can be claim free tickets via this link.

There are t-shirt/post giveaways, pre-game events set up -- including carnival games, food trucks, a surplus sale of USC jerseys, shirts and other apparel, and designated photo stations -- and the opportunity to go on the field after the game to meet players and coaches. See full details here.

It will be the first gauge of renewed fan interest for the Lincoln Riley era and the first chance for anyone to see the team in action (beyond the generally unrevealing 15-20 minutes reporters have been able to see each Tuesday and Thursday this spring).

So what is Riley's expectation or hope for the fan turnout?

"This is my first time in this place, so I don’t know that I want to put a number on it just with lack of experience with it. But there’s a lot of energy around this program right now, a lot of excitement. I think we said it from the opening press conference, it takes everybody," Riley said Saturday. "These guys have been working hard. I think they’ve really had an extremely positive spring, and with that and all the momentum with the program, I know it would mean a lot to our guys to have a great, energetic crowd. That’s what we expect, just like they expect great things out of us."

It will be interesting to see how many fans file into the Coliseum next Saturday, after the sparse turnouts of previous years.

As for what the spring game will actually entail, Riley shared some details but not all.

"We’ll announce it here pretty soon. Gonna kind of wait and make sure that some things on the roster hold pat. That’s always the – if you ever have a limiting factor, that’s typically it. But I can tell you this. It’s not going to be a game of tag. We’re going to play football," he said. "Like what we have every single day. It'll be fun. We’re going to try to keep it pretty fast-paced. We’ll play a half of football. Still looking at a couple options about how we divide the teams and scoring and all of that. But we’re going to make it fun, fast-paced for the fans and I know we have a lot of things planned in between. So yeah, should be a great day."

Being one of the few teams nationally to have their spring game televised on ESPN -- with a full announcing crew -- will continue to add to the national spotlight for the program, which has increased significantly since Riley was hired.

But reigniting the local passion for the program getting fans back in the Coliseum after years of waning attendance is perhaps even more important.

"I think a lot of those things have been done or are already happening. People, as you learn, particularly in this town, they want to support winners. They want to support excellence. They want to support success. We understand that. We don’t shy away from that. I think the best experiences on these are the fans are going to expect greatness out of us, then it’s rightful of us to expect greatness out of them. And when there’s greatness on both sides, that's when you get great football and great atmospheres. That’s what makes college football so special," Riley said.

"So we know we've got to all rise up to get that done. We’re busting our tail to get our part done. I think more than probably an NFL franchise or a lot of other sports, I think just the engagement between fans and college football and how connected they are, the entire experience that becomes is so important. It’s really a big part of it all. So, I don’t know, if you can’t get excited right now about what’s happened right now to this point, I don’t know if there’s magic words to get that done. It’s work behind the scenes to get the right people here. We know there's a lot people that love Trojan football, and we’re excited to see them all out here this Saturday. Spring games are different. We understand that. This Saturday will be a lot of fun, but obviously this fall, it becomes vitally important."