HONOLULU -- The University of Hawaii football team opens its season on Thursday against Southern California.

The matchup is a rare Thursday night game that starts at 5 p.m.

Aloha Stadium will open the Lower Halawa parking lot (Gates 3 and 4) at 11 a.m. It will open the other lots (Upper Halawa, UH Reserved, and Kamehameha) at noon.

Motorists can also find alternative parking sites at Radford High School ($5, no shuttle service), Kam Drive In ($5, free shuttle service) and Leeward Community College (free parking, $2 shuttle service).

UH Manoa is providing free bus rides from the campus to Aloha Stadium. Buses will leave from the intersection of East-West Road and Dole Street at 3:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. The buses will return to UH Manoa 30 minutes after the end of the game.

There is room for 480 passengers on 10 buses. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

No. 14 USC opens as a big favorite at Hawaii in the Trojans' first game since the NCAA imposed sanctions on the program and under new coach Lane Kiffin.

The Trojans also opened their season in Honolulu in 1999 and 2005, winning by a combined score of 125-24. Read more about the game.