Tosh Lupoi's first season as a head coach hasn't been ideal on the field. His general manager Ron Rivera, a former NFL head coach, gave a harsh review of how things are going at Cal on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Cal has been one of the worst teams in the ACC this season, holding a 3-6 record with a 2-4 mark in conference play. Its offense has taken a step back despite returning talented quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, with Lupoi even stripping Jordan Sommerville of play-calling duties in favor of Pat McCann against UNLV on Oct. 6.

Rivera emphasized in his weekly radio appearance with "The Sports Leader" that Lupoi, the former Oregon defensive coordinator, is still learning as a first-time head coach, but that the program needs to start going "north" with four games left in the regular season.

"These last three games, hopefully four, the trajectory has to be going north. We have to show that we are growing, there has been some growth and development of our players, our team, and the culture is getting stronger. Those are all things that you have to have going forward.”

Cal was dominated by nearby UCLA 45-24 in Week 1 in a matchup between first-year coaches — Lupoi and UCLA's Bob Chesney — and former Pac-12 rivals. The Bruins are now 8-0, while the Bears are 3-6.

The directions in which both programs are trending doesn't help the cause, either, although Rivera offered an explanation of why the two comparable programs are on different footings.

“The biggest thing I can tell you guys is — again, I know expectations were very, very high, and I know there’s the comparison to UCLA, but the thing everybody’s gotta understand is UCLA brought in a current head coach that came and brought probably half of the team that he had that went to the playoff to begin with,” Rivera said. “Tosh came in as a first-time head coach. He did bring a couple of inexperienced coordinators with him. Things didn’t work out the way we needed them to work out on offense."

Like Rivera said, the offense has been a problem at times. Sagapolutele has battled injuries but has taken a step back this season as a sophomore, ranking 88th of 138 starting quarterbacks nationally with a 48.4 QBR.

Cal needs to win its final three games to reach bowl eligibility, which is possible with remaining games against winnable opponents in Virginia, Stanford and Pittsburgh.

But if things fall off the tracks too far, perhaps Lupoi's job status will become a question mark after only a season at the helm.

“We’ve got to get this foundation put down, we’ve got to show that we have solid roots in the ground, we are ready to go forward,” Rivera said. “Then we can hit the recruiting trail being able to point to the direction, saying, ‘Look, we’re heading north. We’re doing the things that we need to do. We’re putting the players in position, so let’s roll.’ And that’s what we have to do.”