Although it’s not one of the big marquee matchups of the year by any means (USC isn’t even ranked), ESPN College Game Day is travelling to the Coliseum for the Stanford-USC game this Saturday.

I’m excited because this is the first away football game that I will be going to as a Stanford student. While I’ve been to many of these rivalry matchups, this will be the first Cardinal-versus-Trojans game that I’ll be attending as a Stanford fan – please don’t hold it against me, I’m a Tree for life now.

I vaguely remember the game back in 2007. For a time I blocked it out as a bad memory…until I got to Stanford and started reliving that 24-23 win and saying with pride that I was there. Yes, it may seem that I was being wishy-washy with my teams, but in the end I follow the advice of the Beach Boys and will always remember to “Be True to Your School.” So next Saturday I will be cheering from the USC alumni section for the Card, decked out in Stanford gear.

Speaking of being true to your school, I’d like to point out the amazing display of support that the Red Zone and Stanford community showed last Thursday. Honestly, I still can’t even believe that that win played out as it did. As sophomores, my friends and I have only ever experienced a winning Stanford season, so when the Card sprinted out to an early lead, it felt like nothing new – except that we were beating Oregon. A team that we were supposed to lose to last year, and yet pulled ahead of at the last second and a team that we were certainly supposed to lose to this year. But we didn’t.

I had to keep reminding the friends around me to appreciate the fact that we held the Ducks scoreless for three quarters. We definitely stopped and basked in the touchdowns and field goals that were being racked up by our boys as an Oregon player sat on the sideline with his head in his hands and cried – with plenty of time left in the game, I might add – since the Ducks just weren’t used to losing like that.

Oregon fans took advantage of the fact that their team was so good and gloated and bragged up until the game. A writer for the Daily Emerald was quoted in his game prediction saying, “This is a tough one, not in the matter of who wins but what’s the score.” Whereas Stanford fans were just happy to be considered a big-time program that could compete with Oregon. And then when the Card came through it was surreal.

But really the amount of support on Thursday was awesome. When I biked through White Plaza during the ESPN rally at lunchtime, it was filled with students, alumni and fans from near and far.

Students started lining up outside the Red Zone hours before kickoff. My friends got in line at 2:30 p.m. and didn’t even get first row seats. It’s amazing that this culture of fandom and hype surrounding athletic events is happening on campus. Football is definitely the traceable cause of this and I’m not saying this will rub off on support for other teams, but it’s a start.

Athletics at Stanford are just as exciting as the academics here, and there’s nothing wrong with being true to your school and taking a break from that problem set to cheer on friends and classmates. Athletes should be recognized for the hard work that they put in.

The football team put in the work on Thursday, especially the defense, and I’m sure the fan support and energy in Stanford Stadium helped them to achieve that epic win. Just read the post-game tweet from Shayne Skov and you can feel the love and appreciation that Stanford athletes share when they get the support they deserve: “On behalf of our team, last night was incredible. The crowd noise and atmosphere was the greatest in my 5 years. TY nerdnation.”

Plead with Ashley Westhem to save herself and not sit in the USC alumni section on Saturday by contacting her at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.