Every student's dream became one student's reality on Saturday. With a crowd of boisterous USC students pushing him against the fence, Joe Turner had had enough of the mob he'd been standing in for an hour and a half.

The University of Southern California defeated the University of Nebraska in a dominating 28-10 victory. The home opener, however, was tainted by the pre-game mob of students frantically trying to get into the game.

According to students, a line began to form by the student entrance of the Coliseum around 2 pm for the 5 o'clock kickoff. USC senior, Taylor Fort, said that when he arrived at the Coliseum around 2:30, there was a single file line to enter the stadium, but as time went on, the line began to form into a mob.

Students knew they had to get there early because 12,000 Student Activities Cards (the equivalent to a student ticket) were sold, yet only 8,000 seats were available for student seating, the Daily Trojan reported.

The gate began admitting students around 3:15, but the line moved very little. People who arrived later were trying to push to the front to get into the game and were squishing those in front who had nowhere to go.

Turner, who was waiting with Fort and fellow seniors Jonathan Parada and Heather Hart, estimated they moved "maybe 100 feet" in the hour and a half they had been waiting.

Around 4 o'clock, things got dangerous for Turner as he was pushed up against the fence by the mob. Hart said that the situation was very chaotic and a few girls near them got pushed over and had to be picked back up. "Nobody could f***in breathe," said Parada.

Turner pulled himself up on the lower rung of the fence to try to get himself out of danger. Seeing Turner take the first step up, a fellow Trojan offered him a boost to get up the rest of the way. Desperately in need of a restroom and claustrophobic from the mob, Turner decided to go for it. "[The mob] was dangerous. I thought to myself, 'I've gotta get out of here.'"

"Go! Go! Go!" The crowd cheered as Turner hoisted himself to the top of the fence. Not to let them down, Turner flashed the Trojans' "Fight On!" sign when he got to the top. He leaped onto the top of a wire cage which he shimmed across to the top of the women's bathroom.

It was about this time Fort said that Turner realized how high up he actually was. It was also about this time that the CSC security guards realized what was transpiring. Turner managed to find a pole to slide down from the top of the bathroom. As he reached the ground, CSC found Turner and escorted him to USC's Department of Public Safety officers. Turner was able to persuade DPS to allow him to use the restroom before they wrote him a citation.

Turner's Spirit Activity Card swiped successfully so he was not held accountable for trying to sneak into the game. However, he was not permitted to attend the game and is expecting to be contacted by USC's Student Judicial Affairs committee about his actions.

Turner escaped from danger, but some students weren't as lucky. The Daily Trojan reported that some students suffered injuries and at least one student was taken to the hospital. "If I could have climbed the fence, I would have too," Parada added.

Some students were reported to have suffered from claustrophobia. "My roommate started crying and we were trying to get her out of there," said Erica Baker, a sophomore. A few claustrophobic students threw up on their friends; in a facebook group protesting the student seating changes, a male student said his friend was so embarrassed after throwing up that he went home instead of to the game.

How did this happen? Why were there no safety officials prepared to deal with this crowd control? And, most of all, how could a school so focused on their football team not allow all of its students to attend a game in a 92,000 seat stadium?

Parada said he thought that the Coliseum should revert to providing 12,000 seats for students and student readmittance should be allowed. Most importantly, he thought that the athletic department needed to change its attitude. "It's ridiculous. They're treating us like children."

Turner and Hart both thought the biggest problem Saturday was that all the students were forced to go through one gate. Turner argued that since students only needed to get their cards swiped to enter the Coliseum, there should be no reason that they couldn't get their cards swiped at any gate.

In hopes of fixing the problem, USC called a town meeting which will take place on campus tonight. Many students plan on attending the meeting and voicing their opinion to the administration.

The Trojans will play two road games before returning on October 7 to play the University of Washington. By that time, hopefully, the athletic department will fix the problems to allow all wanting students to attend the games.

However, if the situation is not fixed, Turner says he would not hesitate to climb the fence again. "Yeah, I'd do it again. I was unlucky. Next time, I don't think they'd catch me."

Fight On, Joe!

Sources: Joe Turner, Heather Hart, Jonathan Parada, Taylor Fort, Erica Baker, The Daily Trojan

NOTE: This blog was written as an assignment for the Journalism 499: Sports Commentary class at the University of Southern California, taught by Joshua Adande.