SOUTH BEND — The Notre Dame pep rally on the eve of this week’s game against the University of Southern California will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the Irish Green, the lawn area on Angela Boulevard just south of the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts.

The university earlier in the season announced the USC pep rally might be in Notre Dame Stadium.

Most of the pep rallies this season are on the Irish Green, because the Joyce Center arena is closed for a major renovation.

Why the Green instead of Notre Dame Stadium for USC weekend, which traditionally draws some of the largest crowds of the season?

"The pep rallies have gone well on the Irish Green," Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown said, so university officials decided to hold this week’s rally there, too.

The fenced-in lawn area available for the crowd to gather on the Irish Green will be expanded to almost 800,000 square feet — an addition of 300,000 square feet — to provide extra space for this week’s rally, Brown said.

The pep rally is free and open to the general public.

The Irish Green will open to the public about 3 p.m. Friday with entertainment and concession stands. The Whistle Pigs band will perform on the Green until about 5:45 p.m.

The pep rally crowd generally starts gathering about 5:30 p.m., with music and entertainment provided. The football team and head coach Charlie Weis are expected to arrive about 6:30 p.m.

Parking is limited but available in the nearby Joyce, Stadium, Library, Bookstore and DeBartolo lots.

Two more pep rallies this season also will be on the Irish Green: Oct. 23, the eve of the Boston College game, and Nov. 6, the eve of the game against Navy.

The Nov. 20 pep rally on the eve of the game against Connecticut tentatively is scheduled to take place inside the Joyce Center arena.