That sellout at Bulldog Stadium just might happen.

No. 25 Fresno State (2-0) is close to recording its first sellout at Bulldog Stadium since the 2008 season. Senior associate athletic director Paul Ladwig confirmed via Twitter that, as of Thursday evening, more than 39,600 tickets have been sold — about 5,500 of them student tickets — for the Bulldogs’ nationally televised home game against Boise State (2-1) Friday night.

Bulldog Stadium has a maximum capacity of 41,031.

Fresno State, under coach Tim DeRuyter, is undefeated at home, winning its last eight games at Bulldog Stadium.

But what DeRuyter and the Bulldogs have yet to experience is playing before a packed home crowd.

“It’s huge. Our guys are 8-0 [at home] since we’ve been here at Bulldog Stadium. We draw that energy from the Red Wave. We haven’t seen an entire full house, yet. If we can get the thing packed, which it sounds like we’re going to, I think that might be the energy that carries us over the top.”

“They’ve been great all year,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “That Rutgers game and that Cal Poly game, ask the defense, they were loud. They were really loud. That’s our advantage… It’s going to be two great teams, so hopefully that place is full.”

Kickoff is set for 6:01 p.m. with gates to the stadium opening at 4:30 p.m. Friday’s game is being promoted as a “Red Wave Takeover.”

A combination of factors seems to have contributed to the spike in attendance. The Bulldogs, for one, enter the conference matchup nationally ranked for the first time since 2008 and hold a spotless record. Boise State is 2-1, losing 38-6 to Washington in its season opener.

Fans have lined up early at the Bulldog Ticket Office throughout the week to purchase tickets — to the point where $15 student tickets have sold out and the cheapest remaining tickets left are for $45 in premium seating.

The last batch of tickets at the discounted student price (about 100 of them) sold out in the University Student Union around 1 p.m. Thursday. Students can still buy tickets — just not at the discounted price.

“With only days until the Mountain West home opener with Boise State, we wanted to make sure our fans purchased tickets before game day, as sections of the stadium continue to sell out,” Ladwig said Thursday in a release. “Buying online is the fast and easiest method. Anticipation for this game continues to build hourly, and tickets sales are very strong.”

Fresno State to help flood victims at football game

About 30 Fresno State student-athletes and 30 American Red Cross volunteers will be collecting donations toward relief efforts in Boulder, Colo., before Fresno State’s game against Boise State.

Volunteers will be taking donations from 4:30-6:15 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium. All proceeds will go to the American Red Cross in an effort to aid relief efforts from the flooding disaster that postponed the Bulldogs’ road game against Colorado.

“As a part of SAAC here at Fresno State, we realize that this would be a tremendous opportunity to help out a fellow institution as well as a community that is in serious tribulation due to a terrible natural disaster,” said Bulldog sophomore football player Jordan Brown. “We hope to do all we can to help and ensure this college campus and entire town can return to its normal lifestyle as soon possible”