FAYETTEVILLE -- Sixth-year Arkansas coach Sam Pittman brought up unbidden the increased "outside noise" element affecting the Razorbacks given their current state at his weekly news conference on Monday.
Arkansas (2-2), heading into its first meeting with Notre Dame (1-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, has lost back-to-back games in which it had possession in scoring range late in the game with the chance to take the lead.
The more recent of the two losses, a 32-31 setback at unranked Memphis on Saturday after Arkansas led 28-10 late in the second quarter, has many fans boiling with frustration, fed up with close losses. The Razorbacks are 7-19 in one-score games under Pittman, including back-to-back games in which they had late opportunities to notch wins.
The feel-good momentum Arkansas generated by blasting Arkansas State 56-14 on Sept. 6 in Little Rock has seemingly dried up.
The Razorbacks needed a touchdown to jump ahead of then-No. 17 Ole Miss before Jalen Brown fumbled at the Rebels' 24 late in a 41-35 loss Sept. 13. Arkansas was in field-goal range with 1:18 remaining when Mike Washington Jr. lost a fumble at the Memphis 7 in the loss Saturday.
Those losses on the road, each with victory in reach, will keep the Razorbacks from having a 4-0 record when they face the No. 22 Fighting Irish.
"We have an opportunity," Pittman said. "The only way we can win people [over] that don't believe in us, or win some more positive thoughts about our program, is to win ballgames, and that's really the bottom line.
"You can say whatever you want. You can do whatever you want, but what's the score? That really is what changes people's perception or perspective of you."
Pittman added several times the marquee matchup with Notre Dame, one of college football's most storied programs, will bring out the competitive fire in his team.
"As we well know -- we're not -- we could be 4-0," Pittman said. "We're 2-2. I say that only because if we're 4-0, I think we're all sitting in here thinking we have a great chance to beat Notre Dame. Our football team will think that, but we've got to rally around this week, but we'll do that."
Pittman is clearly aware there is pressure on him to quickly turn the season around, and the Hogs face a daunting schedule featuring six games against teams that are currently ranked in the Associated Press top 25. Their other two opponents, Auburn and Mississippi State, received the most votes among unranked teams.
"It'd be kind of hard to have more pressure," Pittman said. "I mean, I think the pressure you put on yourself is obviously a lot because you want to do well for a lot of reasons. But I've kind of had this same type pressure for, I don't know, three years now. It seems like 40, but I think it's been about three."
Pittman's record at Arkansas fell to 32-33 with the one-point loss at Memphis.
When asked if he was aware of a players' meeting over the weekend, Pittman replied, "No. I mean, guys, we didn't get beat by 100. We lost two games.
"Our plan is to beat Notre Dame. What do we need to change? We need to tackle better, we need to run to the ball better, we need to take care of the football, and we can win games.
"I'm not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. The public will, but we've got a good team. We're doing the right things. We've got to hold on to the football, we've got to tackle better and we've got to play harder and we'll win those games."
Pittman said the added noise around the program could be a concern due to "getting the team ready, but you also have the name of Notre Dame. I mean, we're all grown men in there. We've got to shake that off."
The defense has come under the most scrutiny in the early season after giving up 290 rushing yards, many of them after contact on missed tackles, to Memphis. That took the Razorbacks to 15th in the SEC and 87th in the FBS in run defense at 157.5 yards allowed per game.
Notre Dame, which lost to Ohio State in last year's College Football Playoff championship game, ravaged Purdue for 254 rushing yards in last week's 56-30 win. The Irish rank 70th in the FBS with 161 rushing yards per game.
Pittman said effort was an issue in last week's game.
"Yeah, we didn't run to the football and we didn't tackle well," he said. "A lot of times tackling is effort. Obviously it's technique, but it's effort.
"We had more missed assignments offensively, especially in the third quarter, than we've had this year."
Pittman said the offensive mistakes were spread throughout the unit.
The coaching staff did not detect a mental hangover from the loss to Ole Miss, Pittman noted.
"Obviously the Ole Miss loss was hard," he said. "It's one thing to get beat and you don't have a chance or whatever it may be, and then you go down there and you go, I think everybody, like I say, everybody on TV, there, our team knew we were going to win, and then [we] lose.
"But I thought we were ready. The travel went well. I thought we were ... 11 o'clock would have been our first early game but I thought we were ready. Obviously we came out, three plays and scored."
Pittman said he had no concern at all about the team giving up on the season.
"You know, guys, as much as y'all want us to win and the state wants us to win, the guys in the locker room want to win too," he said. "It's Notre Dame. If I had a concern, I'd be telling you that I didn't think I had a good team or good leadership on the team, and if I told you that, I'd be lying. So we'll be ready to play."
Asked what he would say to fans who have doubts about his team regarding Saturday's game, Pittman said, "Get on out here. We're excited about this game. We're not backing into the door.
"We obviously think we have a great chance to win the game. If they want to see Notre Dame, they ought to get to the game and they'll see a really good Arkansas team as well. We'll be ready to play."