SOUTH BEND — South Bend Police are sending a warning to fans headed to Notre Dame Stadium this weekend: check your tickets closely to avoid being caught by a counterfeit.

Near record crowds are expected in South Bend this weekend, as USC comes to town to take on the Fighting Irish. With both teams 4-1 and a Heisman Trophy race in the balance, the eyes of the nation will be watching.

Police say scam artists will be too.

Police are asking fans to be on the lookout for counterfeit tickets. Two years ago, officers took several reports of counterfeits being sold when the University of Southern California came to town.

Now, they're also warning about counterfeit money, too.

Two weeks ago when Notre Dame took on Washington at Notre Dame Stadium, a tour group operator from Chicago got a surprise after he sold a handful of tickets.

"The money he was paid, at least in part, ended up being counterfeit," said South Bend Police Captain Phil Trent. "He sold to a street scalper in the area of Notre Dame Avenue and Angela Boulevard, and found out when he deposited the money into his bank account that some of the bills were bogus."

Notre Dame staff are on the lookout, too.

"We haven't seen too many counterfeit tickets this season. But, that typically happens for the highest demanded game of the year, which--this year--is USC," said Notre Dame Senior Assistant Athletic Director Josh Berlo.

It's one reason why Richard Gauthier and his son Ryan didn't take any chances.

Ryan flew in all the way from Las Vegas to meet his dad headed into town from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's a "reunion weekend" that began as a Christmas present last year. And the two say they didn't want to take any chances they might get burned by a scam.

"I didn't travel all this way to lose," said Ryan with a laugh.

"Tickets are really hard to get," agreed Richard.

"That's why I went right to StubHub and paid the extra money. It's a lot better sense of mind than getting a scalper ticket right about now," Ryan continued.

Police couldn't agree more.

Tickets online alone are already selling for as much as $1,200 each. And with that much money to be had, scammers will be out in force.

"The kind of money that will be changing hands on street corners here with ticket scalping is going to be amped up," said Trent. "Making a big dollar transaction on a street corner to someone you've never met is fraught with dangers."

But, making that transaction isn't illegal, provided the tickets are genuine.

"There is no local ordinance that governs that," Trent said. "It's just like the value of gold or any other commodity. It's whatever somebody will pay for it. It's free trade."

"All we enforce is that the transactions aren't taking place on a busy road. If people park legally, get out of their car and negotiate the deal without violating any private property issues, then it is legal. There's nothing we can do on city property. The dollar amounts aren't something we can govern," Trent continued.

But, the rules are different on campus property.

"Resale of tickets is prohibited on campus, except at authorized windows at the Notre Dame ticket office on the east side of the stadium and the Alumni Association consignment program at gate three of the Joyce Center," said Berlo.

"We understand that people buy and sell tickets. We just ask that they do so off campus," Berlo continued.

It's a unique policy, Berlo said, that few other schools follow.

"It's fairly uncommon. But, Notre Dame tickets are in high demand. We want to make sure that tickets are going into the hands of people who intend to use them" he said.

Break those rules set by Notre Dame and you risk being banned from the stadium.

"We monitor the resale process as best we can, from internet websites and classified ads to what goes on in and around campus. And, over the past 8 years, we've revoked about 8,000 ticket privileges for those that violated the policy," Berlo said.

But, pushing scalping off campus also brings with it an added risk for buyers and sellers. That's why--this weekend--the university is sending out a message.

"Be careful who you're buying tickets from. Please try and know the individual. Do look for some of the security features on the ticket which includes the customized Notre Dame hologram. And, just be wary that the tickets may be either counterfeit or stolen," Berlo said.

It's one reason why the Gauthiers aren't taking any chances.

"We've bought from scalpers at a lot of games before," said Richard. "You have to be careful."

"We went to 2 or 3 other people and compared tickets right away with them," added Ryan. "Because, it's always in the back of your head. All we want to do is get inside. As long as we're in the stadium, it's completely worth it."