Western Kentucky University football player Cameron Clemmons joins other football players on stage Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, during the Big Red's Roar pep rally at Fountain Square Park. (Miranda Pederson/Daily News)

Western Kentucky University students waved red towels as the marching band played the WKU fight song.

They thronged the street in front of Fountain Square Park to take part in the annual Big Red’s Roar pep rally.

WKU will play its homecoming game against Texas El Paso at 3 p.m. today at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

WKU football coach Jeff Brohm said he was pleased with turnout at the pep rally and hoped people would come to the game to cheer the team.

“Really this is what college is all about right here,” he said.

Mar’Nitka Coleman, a WKU senior from Dayton, Ohio, said she had never before been to Big Red’s Roar but wanted to take part in the pep rally for her last year.

“Why not be a part of the spirit of it all?” Coleman said.

She is a regular at WKU football games and said she believes that the Hilltoppers can win the homecoming game.

“I hope that they do, and I’m going to have faith,” Coleman said.

Breion Douglas, a WKU senior from Memphis, Tenn., helped put together a float for the parade that preceded the pep rally with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, along with another sorority and two fraternities.

They worked on the float all week and finished Friday morning, she said.

Douglas said it was nice to work with the other Greek organizations on the float. “It was more fun than anything,” she said.

Louisville seniors Ashley Lethco and Sidney Blanford watched the homecoming parade from State Street as usual, but they decided to come down to Big Red’s Roar this year to see a friend who is a candidate for homecoming queen.

“This is like our tradition,” Blanford said.

She said the homecoming festivities have been more fun this year because she is a senior. “I think it’s, like, a little more emotional this year,” Blanford said.

Beth Kessler, owner of Parlor on Main, said she and her daughter, Lauren, 8, always watch the parade. Her downtown location on Fountain Square gives her a good spot to watch.

Lauren said her favorite part of the night was getting a hug from Big Red. “When I got a hug from Big Red it was pretty fun,” she said.

— Follow government beat writer Katie Brandenburg on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.