LOS ANGELES – While college football teams across the country are readying for kickoff, all is quiet on the West Coast, where the Pac-12 conference joined the Big Ten in canceling its college football season.

It's a decision that impacts players, coaches, athletic departments, and fans like Bernie Brizuela — a longtime USC football fan.

What You Need To Know

  • For the first time in the history of the Big Ten and Pac-12, no schools in either conference will play football

  • The college football season is moving forward. The ACC kicked off on September 10 and will be followed by the Big-12 on September 12

  • The conferences, not the NCAA, were the decision makers in choosing how to handle sports competitions during the pandemic

  • Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott is hopeful that competition may resume in January

“It’s challenging for everybody," Brizuela said while watching reruns of his favorite football team.

"This is a whole new thing we’re dealing with," he added. "It’s hard, but you have to feel for the kids, they’re the ones going through it.”

Typically, Brizuela and thousands of other fans spend September donning their jerseys and readying their tailgate gear. After all, Saturdays in the fall are all about college football.

“They revolve around the games, everything kind of stops," Brizuela said.

But this year looks a lot different than years prior. As professional, college, and high school level sports teams continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, two of three Power Five conferences elected to cancel their seasons.

Meanwhile, the Big-12, SEC, and ACC are moving forward.

It's a lack of unity that has made the decision even more difficult to comprehend for college football fans.

“The jury is still out," Brizuela said. "Are they gonna be able to be safe or they might have to pull the plug too?”

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While Brizuela said he understands why the Pac-12 made its decision, it didn't make it any easier to process. He's been a fan of the Trojans since the 1960s and dedicates a portion of his "man cave" to his beloved team.

“I consider myself a blue-collar Trojan because I didn’t go to school, I don’t have any degrees hanging on the walls," he said. "But I love the Trojans and back them up 100 percent.”

And he will continue to back them up through this unprecedented time, he said.

This week, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told CNBC that the conference's partnership with Quidel on rapid COVID tests gives him "a high degree of confidence" that there may be football played in the new year.

It's a day Brizuela can't wait for. For now, he says he'll tune in to other schools taking the field, anxious for when his Saturdays revolve around the Trojans once again.

“I’ll be fired up," he said donning the traditional Trojan "Fight On" symbol. "It’s a family, a Trojan Family.”