PISCATAWAY -- He's down but not out, and his supporters are charged up.

The math isn't on U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' side when it comes to securing the Democratic nomination, but thousands of eager supporters welcomed the underdog White House hopeful to New Jersey on Sunday and enthusiastically cheered on to "fight back and make a political revolution."

The cheers that filled the room and echoed off the walls of Rutgers University's Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway turned into roars of support when Sanders preached fighting income inequality, the war or drugs and racial discrimination.

"We have come a very long way in the past year," Sanders said. "Real change is coming to America."

New Jersey, usually an afterthought in most modern presidential election cycles, was host to a political rally unlike anything most voters have seen here in recent memory. Thousands nearly filled the arena that can seat 8,000 people to support Sanders in his primary battle against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Clinton clinched enough delegates to make it mathematically impossible for the Vermont senator to secure enough delegates in the remaining primary contests. But Sanders aides have suggested the campaign's path to the nomination is in securing super delegates and the candidate vowed on Sunday to continue fighting.

"We are going to fight for every single vote," Sanders declared.

The enthusiastic crowd jeered at the mention of Clinton and shared Sanders' outrage over Clinton's supposed cozy relationship with Wall Street.

"Has one Wall Street executive gotten a police record for destroying the lives of millions?" Sanders asked. "That is why we're going to bring justice back to a broken criminal justice system."

The lawmaker argued he would be the best candidate to block Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, from ever occupying the White House.

"I am happy to tell you that Donald Trump will not become president of the United States ... (because) we will beat him by double digits," Sanders said.

"Trump will not be elected president because the American people understand that we're stronger when we come together than when we are divided up," he said. "At the end of the day, love trumps hatred."

Before taking the stage, Hetty Rosenstein, director of the Communications Workers of America, helped charge up the crowd by promising to take "this fight to the Democratic Convention" in July.

"We are the political revolution!" Rosenstein shouted to the crowd, chanting, "One day longer, each day stronger!"

The rallying call was repeated by the raucous audience.

But as enthusiastic as the crowd was, Sanders' already uphill climb to the nomination isn't made easier by the hurdle pollsters say he has to clear to get New Jersey's delegates.

Clinton holds 60 percent of Democratic voters in the state while Sanders' support lags at 32 percent, according to a Monmouth University Poll released on Wednesday.

The numbers also are working against Sanders.

The Democratic nominee needs to win 2,383 delegates to lock up the nomination. Clinton leads with 2,205 delegates, including 522 super delegates, and Sanders trails with 1,401 delegates, which includes only 39 super delegates.

The rally at Rutgers University was the first of two Sanders had scheduled for New Jersey. He's hosting a similar event in Atlantic City Monday morning.

The events mark the first time a presidential candidate has rallied the troops in the Garden State this presidential cycle.

The only other campaign event in New Jersey was Gov. Chris Christie's kickoff event for the Republican nomination in June.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.