LOS ANGELES -- There's nothing for USC athletic director Pat Haden to say right now. There may be nothing for him to say next week. Haden has so far expressed support for Lane Kiffin in the aftermath of USC's loss to crosstown rival UCLA, but if USC loses to Notre Dame on Saturday, sooner or later he's going to have to say: "Lane, you're fired."

Haden has been hearing complaints about his head coach from disgruntled alumni since the day he became USC's athletic director in 2010. Now, Kiffin's team has dramatically under-delivered on lofty preseason hopes and the chorus of dissatisfaction is growing louder and louder.

With good reason.

This week USC became the first school since Ole Miss in 1964 to start the season as the No. 1 team in the AP poll and completely fall out of the rankings by the end of the season.

If USC loses to Notre Dame, the current No. 1 team in the country, it would be the first time the Trojans have lost to both UCLA and Notre Dame in the same season in 17 years, and Kiffin would become the first USC coach since Paul Hackett to have at least five losses in two of his first three seasons at the school.

Not only have the Trojans lost the most significant games on their schedule so far, they have lost them in historically bad fashion. Three weeks ago, Oregon ran up the most points (62), touchdowns (nine) and yards (730) ever surrendered by USC, in a football history that dates to 1888. Last Saturday, UCLA scored more points against USC, in a 38-28 win, than it had in any game since 1996, and running back Jonathan Franklin's 171 rushing yards were the most for a Bruin against USC since Gaston Green's 224 yards in 1986.