American college football sides California Golden Bears and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors have settled into the practice grind ahead of their season-opening clash at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
Organisers are hoping for a crowd of up to 65,000 for the game, more than the number who got along to rugby league's State of Origin III at the venue in July.
The novelty of attending the first US college game in Australia since Brigham Young University beat Colorado State at Princes Park to claim the `Melbourne Bowl' in front of just 7000 fans in 1987 will no doubt be a factor - even if adult tickets do start at $69.
If the gridiron action doesn't quite hit the spot, Sydneysiders should at least get their fill with an American-style menu on offer in the stadium. Two-foot long hotdogs, Californian Bear Burgers and hot-buttered corn on the cob are included.
Locals will also have one of their own to get behind.
Rainbow Warriors' defensive end Max Hendrie hails from Sydney. The Scots College old boy caught the attention of Hawaii's recruiters as a high school rugby union star.
The Warriors have two other Aussies in their squad, Ben Scruton and Stan Gaudion, with the former also a schance to play in a game which expected to be viewed by 30 million in the US via ESPN.
Meanwhile, both sides have hit the training paddock, with Cal coach Sonny Dykes noting his troops were able to get rid of some kinks in their first fully-padded practice.
"The guys are getting acclimatised to Sydney time, so we had a good, intense practice and the guys worked hard," he said.
Cal had a seven-win turnaround over the past two seasons, going from 1-11 in 2013 to 8-5 last year and are heavily favoured to win in Sydney.
Hawaii's first-season coach, former quarterback Nick Rolovich, was happy to be making his debut Down Under, giving his players a unique lifetime experience.
"If they kick me out of my country, I'm coming here, save me a room," Rolovich told local media.
"How many people get to play their first game in Australia in Sydney? Your grandkids aren't going to believe you that you got to do this in September when you're 20 years old."
