Edinburg, TX (KRGV) — Part of the college football gameday experience is the tailgate before kickoff.

UTRGV staff and student volunteers start setting up the student tailgate area outside Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium on Friday afternoon ahead of kickoff.

"In the latest edition of Gridiron Heroes, KRGV highlights how UTRGV Assistant Director of Student Activities Chris Stubbs and his team brings the tailgate zone to life.

“Our Vaquero clubs choose a spot in advance on Monday of game week, and they register, and then they can come out here and claim it Friday night when we do our tailgate setup. And then Saturday they just show up, and they can start partying,” Stubbs said.

Stubbs said each club gets a 10-by-20-foot space; they can choose to be there for the whole season.

“And they'll keep their whole season-long tailgate spot, or they can choose individual games that they would like to attend,” Stubbs said.

On Saturday, Stubbs and his team keep working. They set up the entertainment system, the tents, tables, chairs, and other details.

“To make sure everybody has shade and everybody has a place to station themselves, tables and chairs are next, and then we start doing all the aesthetics stuff,” Stubbs said.

Stubbs and his team also added several games to the tailgate, including the field goal challenge and arm wrestling tables.

“The team here actually teaches the students how to arm wrestle correctly, so it's really fun and engaging, and the students really seem to be drawn into that,” Stubbs said.

Stubbs said more than 1,000 students attended the student tailgate parties last season. He expects that number to rise this season and beyond.

“Now that we've had a whole year to kind of revamp it and rethink about what we wanted to do, it should be even bigger,” Stubbs said. “It should be even more successful, and I'm excited for our students who get to experience it.”

Watch the video above for the full story.