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Someone cuts the lights, and the large projection-style screen before us goes black. Gladiator-esque music swells as an LSU football video starts to roll. Highlights from last season flash on the screen, and the images speed up as the music’s operatic voices build to a crescendo. Another song blares from the speakers, and more highlights fly across the screen, culminating with the rousing Sugar Bowl stomping of Notre Dame.

I do like football, although I don’t know all the details of the game, but I’ve got goose-bumps.

The lights cut back on, and we’re led down the hill to “Pregame,” and then into the Jeff Boss Locker Room where we wait for the perfect moment to run out into Tiger Stadium.

Our “coach” for the evening comes running in through the chute, cheering and clapping her hands. We huddle up and place our hands in the center for a cheer, then take off running behind her, jumping and smacking the “WIN!” sign above the players’ entrance into the Death Valley.

We watch ourselves on the giant scoreboard screens as we’re running onto the field. I have to marvel at how large the stadium feels from down here. The floodlights shine down on us as a handful of fans—husbands, children, boyfriends and friends—cheer us on. All 650 of us.

The women of Lady Tiger football "101" march down the hill from Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes, to Death Valley.

When we’re all on the turf, we line up and pose for a “team” picture with Coach Les and Kathy Miles.

This is Lady Tiger Football “101”. Females ranging in age from 13 to 85, and from as far away as Dallas and Atlanta, will spend this balmy July evening living a Tiger dream, learning some football basics, meeting the coaches and generally becoming better-informed fans.

To be honest, I don’t know what to expect. But when I drive across campus 30 minutes before registration and see women lined up in the pouring rain with their purple and gold umbrellas, I know it’s going to be a good experience: these women are LSU fans through and through.

Standing in line to register feels like game day. Women are chatting and talking about their expectations, minus the jostling and shoving. Organizers have taken great pains to simulate the feel of game day—vendors are set up selling feminine t-shirts, jewelry and other memorabilia, and midway through the program we hike down the hill for a tailgate party in front of the PMAC, complete with jambalaya and ice-cold beverages.

All the girls and women here will receive a t-shirt and a Lady Tiger Football “101” jersey—eventually. Mack Butler, the assistant athletic director for football, tells us they only ordered 300 jerseys because they expected about half the turnout. So half of the women fill out their addresses and sizes so they can receive their jerseys in the mail.

Kathy Miles, the First Lady of LSU football, welcomes us after a standing ovation. She tells us it’s our time.

There are competitions and demonstrations. Some women sprint to pull on a uniform—pants, cleats, shoulder pads and helmet. Others try on specialty knee braces or have their ankles taped.

LSU coaches mingle with the crowd. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, athletic trainer Jack Marucci, strength coach Tom Moffitt, special teams coach Bradley Dale Peveto and head equipment manager Greg Stringfellow are present. New offensive coordinator Gary Crowton is here too, and of course, head coach Les Miles. He makes his entrance just before the tailgate, just having arrived from SEC Media Day in Alabama.

They address us and explain their roles in the program.

Coach Miles and his wife take questions, with some interesting revelations.

Kelli Corley (right) and Tony May are all smiles with Head Coach Les Miles.

For example, Coach Miles reveals he wanted to spend time with the new Mike the Tiger because the late Mike V never gave him the time of day. But when he learned the leading contender to be the new Mike is already two years old, he quickly changed his mind.

He reminisces about the season of Hurricane Katrina and how he naively figured a hurricane would be a big gust of wind. Being from Tennessee, I relate to his story. I, too, felt the shock of the storm’s devastation, and how it affected so many people’s lives.

His favorite LSU experience? There are too many to name, but the Arizona State game his first season was unforgettable because it was the first game after Katrina, and the players brought such intensity to the gridiron.

Asked if they like Baton Rouge, the Mileses wholeheartedly agree, praising the good food, the passion for football and Southern hospitality.

Just like the players, we spend some time watching film during these presentations. We watch videos to illustrate various aspects of the sport, and the women react as though it’s a live game—gasps, squeals and clapping echo through the Cox Communications Academics Center.

I wind up learning much more than I expected.

I now understand blitzes. I’m not sure if I could point one out during a game, but I know it has to do with the defense and attacking the offensive team with different schemes.

On punt returns your man will “chop and drop,” meaning he’ll attempt to cut across the field to lose you and eventually will drop his hips, and you, in turn, will “sit and fit,” blocking him to protect your teammates.

Numbers 50 through 79 are ineligible numbers and cannot go out for passes.

And I discover football is a freakishly expensive sport.

A single game uniform costs $1,500. (And since the team is Nike-sponsored, there is a swoosh on every part of the body—about 20 swooshes total). Custom-fit knee braces for offensive linemen cost $1,000. LSU even operates its own dental and eye clinics for athletes.

And inevitably, the conversation turns to Nick Saban, who arrived here the dashing, mock-turtlenecked hero who won a national championship, but then broke LSU’s heart by taking over as rival Alabama’s head coach.

Unfortunately, defensive coordinator Bo Pelini can’t say if there is some secret play to “accidentally” take Saban out on the sideline. But not to worry: Saban won’t know our stuff, because new plays are formulated for both offense and defense every game.

I’ve felt what it’s like to run out onto the field at Death Valley, even if there were only a smattering of people in the stands. I’ve seen how intense game preparations are. And I see how much this program matters to these women—some moms, daughters and grandmothers.

I feel more ready than ever for football season, and I even feel some Tiger bravado.

And I know that a lot of these women, myself included, are anxiously awaiting Nov. 3 when LSU heads to Tuscaloosa.

Heads up, Nick.