Cal takes tarps off end zone seats and hopes for biggest crowd for the opener in more than a decade

Berkeley, Calif. (AP) — The California football team is removing tarps from seats in the south end zone of Memorial Stadium, aiming for a record-breaking home crowd at their season opener against UCLA on September 5.

First-year coach Tosh Lupoi personally took off the tarps in a social media video on Tuesday, and the university plans to keep them off for the entire season. Tickets for the premium sections are already on sale, and Cal is on track to draw over 60,000 fans for the game against the Bruins.

"We've done some really good things with our ticket sales that most certainly are up," said general manager Ron Rivera. "This also shows the interest. One of the things that has been really good for us is to have a marquee game. Marquee games at home mean an awful lot. It means the attendance most certainly will be up and also good for television for us."

The removal of the tarps adds about 10,000 seats, helping Cal reach the 60,000-fan threshold for the first time since 2012. The high point in that time was 63,186 fans for the 2012 opener against Nevada. The Bears have not topped the 60,000 mark since the 2013 game against Ohio State.

Excitement is high this season for the program, which has only won more than seven games once in the past 10 years and hasn't had a winning conference record since 2009. Rivera has engaged alumni and raised money, while Lupoi has energized the fan base with his recruiting efforts since joining in December. Cal's home schedule features high-profile opponents, including a season opener against UCLA and games against Clemson and Stanford.