It didn't take long for the beads of sweat to start forming on Jim Tomsula's forehead.
They came the past week when the San Francisco 49ers coach repeatedly took his place behind the lectern in an auditorium buried inside the NFL team's 68,500-seat Levi's Stadium.
The NFL requires head coaches speak to the media at least four times in the week before a game, so after the 49ers were thrashed 43-18 by the Pittsburgh Steelers and 47-7 by the Arizona Cardinals the past two weeks, Tomsula was feeling the heat during each lectern visit.
The losses were the 49ers' worst back-to-back in 35 years.
"What you got?" Tomsula, tortoise shell glasses hanging on the end of his nose, asked the reporters seated before him at one of the inquisitions.
Most Australians, not surprisingly, are focused on Jarryd Hayne.
During the pre-season so were 49ers fans and reporters from San Francisco Bay Area, excited by the "rugby star".
But Hayne's storyline has now been pushed to sidebar status.
A blowtorch instead has been turned on the 49ers' front office, Tomsula, the error-prone offence, sieve-like defence and quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the team's tattooed physical freak with a rocket of an arm that had four passes intercepted by the Cardinals.
Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu taunted after the game that the 49ers' offensive scheme was so simple he had no problem picking off two of Kaepernick's passes.
Season ticket-holders are in revolt, despite the 49ers' not-so-dire one win, two loss record.
Mediocrity isn't accepted, with the 49ers winners of five Super Bowls and only missing the playoffs once the past six seasons.
Desperate for a win, the 49ers host the undefeated Super Bowl favourite Green Bay Packers on Sunday (Monday 7.25am AEDT).
Las Vegas bookmakers have the 49ers eight point underdogs, the biggest negative point spread on their home field since 2007.
Hayne is expected to maintain his position as punt returner, although returner/running back Reggie Bush and returner/wide-receiver Bruce Ellington are likely back from injury.
Tomsula, a burly, moustached son of Hungarian immigrants raised in the blue-collar, steelmaking Pittsburgh suburb of Homestead, has taken the blame for the two losses.
He has thanked his players when they walked off the field, patting them on the back and "letting them know that I appreciate them".
"This is my 34th season of football," Tomsula, promoted from 49ers defensive line coach to the top job after last year's coach Jim Harbaugh departed, said.
"I've done that every football game I've coached."
If the Packers win, 49ers fans won't be patting Tomsula on the back.
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