As the losses keep coming for Notre Dame's football team, the pressure on head coach Brian Kelly continues to increase - and rightfully so. With this week off, Kelly and company have a two-week period to address a growing list of issues and problems.

As the defense tries to right itself as best it can considering its youth, the once potent Irish offense is slipping badly each week. It got so bad last week that Kelly pulled starting quarterback DeShone Kizer in the third quarter after his second interception. Kizer was replaced by Malik Zaire, who had little success in the three series he was in charge.Kelly, his staff, and the team, had a Stanford team in town that was ripe for a beating. The Cardinal had given up 86 points in their previous two games and had to play the game without outstanding running back Christian McCafferty, who was out with a hip injury. Despite the woes of the Stanford defense, ND manged only 10 points - a first quarter score by Kizer and a field goal by Justin Yoon.Despite a miserable second half, Kizer and the Irish were in position to tie the game with a first down at the Stanford 14 with 41 seconds to play and no timeouts. But it was not to be as all the Irish managed was a pass completion for six yards, a sack for a 6-yard loss, a spike to stop the clock and a last ditch effort that couldn't even produce a final pass attempt.At 2-5, the Irish are headed for the wrong kind of record. With the likes of Miami, Navy, Virginia Tech and USC ahead, the chances of any more wins this season appear slim. Army gives ND some hope, but the Cadets have not played badly this year and that game is no longer a lock. Could ND finish at 2-10 or 3-9? That is quite a come down from a preseason national ranking of eighth and predictions of 10-2 and 9-3 records.And what did happened to the Irish offensive line? ND managed only 153 net rushing yards and gave up four sacks. Kizer had another poor performance completing just 14 of 26 passes for 154 yards and two picks, one of which was returned for a touchdown.After the game Kelly told the media, "This is a bitter pill to swallow, certainly. Losing our fifth game now by one possession, I love those kids in there. They had great energy. They wanted to win."It's too bad the coaching "energy" didn't match that of the players.IRISH NOTES ... Former ND quarterback Jimmy Clausen was quick to react to Kelly's decision to pull Kizer after his second interception. Clausen used twitter to say Kizer should declare for the NFL draft. Clausen said, "If you trust a QB, you don't pull him!" adding, "That hurt his confidence worse. Every QB will struggle at one point in their career." Kelly response to questions about inserting Zaire, "I just felt like we needed to get some momentum back. I thought he could give us some momentum. That was a head coaching decision.".... Clausen was suppose to be on the pregame and postgame shows on NBC Sports Network as a guest analyst but his appearance was bumped by a late scheduling change with an NHL game taking its place .... Among the sellout crowd last week was the No. 1 prospect at any position, offensive tackle Foster Sarell of Graham, Washington. Also on hand were scouts for the Sugar, Peach and TaxSlayer bowls. Certainly, they could not have seen anything they would want for their games .... Center Sam Mustipher had another poor game with wild snaps, one that resulted in a safety .... The unimpressive stats from the game included Kizer running 11 times for 83 yards and a score; Tarean Folson eight carries for 49 yards; Josh Adams eight carries for 25 yards; and Dexter Williams two carries for 10 yards. Torri Hunter Jr. caught four passes for 70 yards and Equanimeous St. Brown had three for 40. Drue Tranquell had eight solos tackles and Nyles Morgan five .... Senior cornerback Devin Butler pleaded guilty earlier this week to a misdemeanor count of resisting law enforcement, with two felony charges against him dropped. Butler, a senior, is currently suspended, He was arrested early on the morning of Aug. 20 after an altercation with police outside the Linebacker bar near campus. If he completes a pretrial diversion program successfully, the case could be dismissed altogether .... Max Redfield, the former ND defensive back dismissed from the team after being arrested the night of Aug. 20 in a traffic stop and found to have marijuana and a handgun, has also been dismissed from the university .... Eight NFL teams had reps at the Stanford game including Jacksonville, Houston, Denver, Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland, New York Jets and the L.A. Rams ....Senior right offensive guard Hunter Bivin made his first career start last week, filling in for senior Colin McGovern, who missed the game with a ankle injury. Also making their first starts were freshmen wide receiver Kevin Stepherson and cornerback Troy Pride Jr ,,, ND got a new recruit this week, and lost one. Notre Dame got a verbal commitment on Tuesday from cornerback Elijah Hicks, when he tweeted his Irish pledge. A 6-foot, 170-pound athlete, Hicks chose Notre Dame over three other finalists - Michigan, Washington and UCLA. Consensus four-star defensive lineman Donovan Jeter announced that he had de-committed from Notre Dame, however, he said ND is still his favorite choice but has decided to listen to and visit other schools before making a final decision .... Next week we'll have a preview of the Miami game, a look at the 2017 recruiting class of the Irish and some more thoughts on Kelly's coaching.