PALO ALTO, Calif. – An exasperated Chase Claypool looked back at his quarterback seconds after the final missed opportunity of 2017.

Claypool – open at one point crossing the field – was eschewed by Brandon Wimbush for the more open Kevin Stepherson. Wimbush’s pass fell incomplete and Notre Dame’s season ended as it usually does under head coach Brian Kelly.

Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Claypool didn’t show up his quarterback, but he did offer the universal sign for frustration between two people fully engaged in the same endeavor when one’s efforts go astray.

“WTH?”

Safe to say Claypool’s innocuous reaction speaks for all of us.

Three weeks ago Notre Dame at comfortably as the nation’s third-ranked team. Now they’re headed to a third-tier bowl.

After this (most) recent all-too-familiar fall from grace, it’s hard to blame the Irish fan that feels she’s been sold a bill of goods.

It’s disingenuous to deny the Irish fan the belief that he should no longer expect greatness from the program that once defined the term.

It’s difficult to listen to pundits and podcasts that are employed to listen to coaches and players and an athletic director that invariably assure change – change that occurs but a bottom line that does not.

Most of all, it’s impossible to ignore the past, both recent and generational, in an ongoing effort to assuage that undeniable feeling of…of…failure?

Maybe it isn’t failure, but instead that the modern era of Notre Dame Football is Sisyphus and the fan base is the big boulder – the one that always expects its journey to the precipice of the hill will yield a different fate.

One that has long held firm in the face of evidence to the contrary that there could be a different end result – but one finally, collectively, at its wits’ end.

TREADING WATER

Looking for a reasoned approach to break down the Kelly Era? Consider the following two-year increments:

-- 2010 and 2011: 16 wins (1 bowl win)

-- 2011 and 2012: 20 wins (0 bowl wins)

-- 2012 and 2013: 21 wins (1 bowl win)

-- 2013 and 2014: 17 wins (2 bowl wins)

-- 2014 and 2015: 18 wins (1 bowl win)

-- 2015 and 2016: 14 wins (0 bowl wins)

-- 2016 and 2017: 13 wins (bowl pending)

-- 2017 and 2018? Do you expect more than 19 combined wins?

If every three-year increment is taken into account, Kelly’s efforts are as follows:

-- 2010-11-12: 28 wins

-- 2011-2012-2013: 29 wins

-- 2012-2013-2014: 29 wins

-- 2013-2014-2015: 27 wins

-- 2014-2015-2016: 22 wins

-- 2015-2016-2017: 23 wins (pending)

-- 2016-2017-2018? Do you expect more than 23 or 24 wins by next year’s conclusion?

It’s fair to surmise that Brian Kelly was actually better presiding over a bulk of players he inherited rather than those he recruited.

If there is a Purgatory Irish fans this is it.

THE UNDENIABLE DIFFERENCE

Kelly has won once (at Temple) and lost nine against the last 10 ranked foes Notre Dame has faced on the road since his 2012 Irish stormed into Norman for an upset win over then-No. 8 Oklahoma.

Stanford and head coach Brian Shaw has conversely prevailed in six of seven matchups against Top 10 teams that visited The Farm.

Yes that’s a road vs. home comparison. It’s also 1-9 vs. 6-1. And Top 25 vs. Top 10 for that matter. (Shaw is 10-8 overall vs. Top 10 teams; Kelly is 2-8.)

It’s a comparison between one program that shrinks vs. another that rises to the level of its competition.

Kelly’s Irish – as he was quick to point out – lost in large part because of two fourth quarter turnovers and two ill-timed pre-snap penalties. The penalties helped downgrade a promising 1st-and-10 situation at the Stanford 19-yard line into a field goal and 20-17 lead. The subsequent turnovers and Notre Dame’s response to them turned that three-point lead into an 18-point deficit.

Turnovers and a lack of mental discipline were indeed the chief culprits Saturday night. But that’s not new when these two programs meet. It’s not new nor is it news that it was Kelly’s team that flinched.

“Each game that we've lost this year, we've turned the football over against quality opposition, against good football teams,” said Kelly, later reiterating, “We didn't play bad football teams and turn it over; we played really good football teams and turned it over.”

True.

Also true: Kelly lost to three good football teams this season because when he pitted his own against them on the field of play, the opponents managed to stay in character and his group did not.

Turnovers and penalties are not incidental.

MORE OF THE SAME?

With playoff hopes already lost, the true pain of Saturday night was the state of affairs in South Bend, at least compared with the lone program to which it can share the student-athlete ideal.

Shaw’s Cardinal squads tend to improve – he’s 23-6 in November – while Kelly’s conversely have a tendency to flunk their final exams. Kelly began his Irish career a robust 10-1 in November – the lone loss to Stanford. (At least some things never change.)

Since, his Irish are 9-12 in the final month, 19-13 overall. His four highly ranked teams at Notre Dame (2012-14-15-17) finished a combined 10-7 in November. His average squads (2010-11-13) plus bad team (2016) combined to finish 9-6.

Kelly is now the only Notre Dame head coach to lose to the same program in four consecutive road games – each of the last four Thanksgiving Saturdays on The Farm.

The reasons are plentiful:

You can blame prior staff recruiting and subsequent player development – Stanford was a far better team in 2011 and 2013.

You can blame finishing power – Notre Dame’s defense could not in 2015; the Stanford offense famously did.

You can blame the teams’ respective quarterback play in each contest – Stanford’s was better in 2011-13-17; slightly so in 2015.

You can blame the Irish defense – Notre Dame has surrendered 28, 27, 38, and 38 points respectively in those four straight losses.

You can blame turnovers – a combined 8-4 disadvantage over four games.

Or you could blame the Notre Dame head coach whose job is to preside over all of the above.

It’s hard to discern what entity owns Brian Kelly more: David Shaw and his 5-2 record head-up, or the bright lights of college football’s big stage – undefeated against Kelly’s Irish since late October 2012.

“Our seniors did a great job of putting our football program back to where it needs to be,” said Kelly post game. “But I would call it just the first coat of paint for where we are. There's another level for us. We'll certainly look at this season and feel it was a good foundation for us to look to be one step higher next year, to reach higher, for more.”

After eight seasons, it’s hard to envision what more is out there.