Mark Schlereth and Jeff Saturday believe the Seahawks will end their recent struggles against the Rams and defeat them on Thursday night. (1:00)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- It's all about the future now, because the Los Angeles Rams are not going to the playoffs and because the search for their new head coach has already begun.

But this team still has a season to play.

Three games remain, all against divisional opponents. The first one comes on the road against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night, 100 hours after the Rams kicked off on Sunday afternoon. That one ended in a 42-14 blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons, giving the Rams eight defeats over a span of nine games. And it got Jeff Fisher fired as head coach, a circumstance that left an entire locker room shaken up and torn apart.

Now it's up to John Fassel, the energetic special teams coordinator who is admittedly underqualified, to pick up the pieces and salvage what remains of a lost season.

"I'm not getting much sleep, but that’s OK," Fassel said after Tuesday's practice, his second as the interim coach. "The adrenaline is a huge bonus. The last 24 hours, I'm just learning on the fly. It's been an incredible experience. I would love to know everything Coach Fisher knows. It's just there’s so many things, and I'll never learn all of it."

Todd Gurley and Jared Goff want to end their last three games on an up note. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

The Rams eventually had no choice but to part ways with Fisher. But the timing of his dismissal was surprising when you consider the quick turnaround and the success he has had against their next opponent. Fisher's Rams had beaten the Seahawks three consecutive times, including Week 2 of this season, which marked the last time the Rams won a game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Now they'll arrive at CenturyLink Field -- quite possibly the most hostile road environment in the NFL -- with a 4-9 record and raw emotions.

"Nobody's going to feel sorry for us for what we're going through, what we've been going through," Rams middle linebacker Alec Ogletree said.

"I can't stress enough how much it hurts," rookie quarterback Jared Goff added, "but we need to find a way to move on and find a way to beat Seattle. I know there will be no one rooting for us more than Coach Fish.”

Firing Fisher now gives the Rams a leg-up on other teams that might have coaching vacancies at the end of the year. There was also a thought that the Rams wouldn't have to scramble too much the rest of this season because they finish against NFC West teams that they know well, with home games against the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals following this next one against the Seahawks.

Fassel will rely heavily on assistant head coach Dave McGinnis and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, both of whom have experience as NFL head coaches. And he won't tinker much. The logistics, the game-planning and the approach will merely be "a continuation" of what Fisher installed.

Said Fassel: "Nothing has changed as far as the organization of the offense or the defense or even special teams."

The Rams' last meeting against the Seahawks ended in a 9-3 victory, but Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said his team is "completely different" from then. At that point, Russell Wilson was only seven days removed from suffering a high ankle sprain that forced him to remain in the pocket. He said he feels "100 times better now," but his team recently lost standout safety Earl Thomas and then suffered a 38-10 rout at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.

The Seahawks (8-4-1) will be angry and energized at a thunderous home stadium where they have won an NFL-best 87 percent of their games over the last five seasons.

The Rams had two short practices with their interim coach, then a walk-through on Wednesday before getting a police escort to Los Angeles International Airport and flying to Seattle. After Monday's practice, Fassel, son of former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel, huddled the team together and said: "If you love 'ball, if you love Coach Fisher, that's got to be enough to get us through these next three weeks. We've got a job; all of our jobs are on the line."

The Rams still have things to play for.

Punter Johnny Hekker and his special-teams unit have downed 46 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line, one away from the NFL record. Kenny Britt is 63 yards away from becoming the Rams' first 1,000-yard receiver since Torry Holt in 2007. Aaron Donald, with an NFL-leading 16 tackles for loss and 27 quarterback hits, is still making a case for Defensive Player of the Year. Gurley can somewhat salvage a dreadful sophomore season by reaching 1,000 rushing yards, which would require an average of 87 over these next three games. And Goff needs to make strides, with his first four starts producing a Total QBR of just 24.6, the NFL's worst from Week 11-14.

As a group, the Rams need to show resolve, something Gurley stressed when recently alleging that some of his teammates might have already quit on this season.

Do they still have some fight left in them?

"We're about to find out Thursday," Gurley said. "We’re going to definitely find out Thursday."