PISCATAWAY – Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano made his point clear after the Scarlet Knights’ loss to UCLA on Saturday.

“This program will get there,” Schiano said. “I know that there's going to be certain people that want to cast their ballot and say, ‘Oh, we've got big problems.’ You call your shot. Just remember, we will get there, I promise you. So you want to call your shot now, just call it. But know that you're calling your shot.”

Rutgers’ 35-32 loss to the Bruins was the team’s third-consecutive loss after losses to Nebraska on the road and Wisconsin at home.

After winning their first four games, the Scarlet Knights are now 4-3 and need to beat USC at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday night (FOX, 11 p.m. ET) to snap the skid.

Still, the struggles Rutgers has been facing in recent weeks have delivered a blow to the preseason expectations that this could be a "special season", with some predicting the Scarlet Knights potentially winning as many as 10 games because of a more manageable Big Ten schedule – though many of those prognostications were likely unrealistic to begin with.

But this season clearly isn’t going the way so many expected. Injuries have played a major role. The Scarlet Knights before the season lost linebacker Mohamed Toure to a torn ACL, then after the season started left guard Bryan Felter, running back Sam Brown and tight ends Kenny Fletcher and Victor Konopka all suffered season-ending injuries.

Others, including linebacker Tyreem Powell and cornerback Robert Longerbeam, have been banged up.

But Rutgers’ defense, considered the team’s strength coming into the season, has largely been a disappointment. And the offense, which overall has improved from recent seasons, struggled against Nebraska and Wisconsin.

It’s hard to know, right now at least, where this season is really headed.

And some segments of the fanbase are wondering the same thing about the direction of the rebuild.

Schiano on Monday expanded more on why he’s remaining optimistic.

“It's a long-suffering fanbase, I get that,” Schiano said. “So every time they get a little (excited) and it doesn't exactly happen – it’ll happen. That was my point, is just hang in there. It's going to happen. It didn't happen overnight the first time. It's not happening overnight this time. It will happen. I go out to practice every day. I see them train year-round. I see our coaches the way they work. It will happen.”

Schiano reiterated that it will not be a “linear ascent.”

Whether Rutgers’ can find a way to beat the Trojans in LA remains to be seen.

But a victory would go a long way toward easing concerns about the direction of the season – and the rebuild.

“There are some things going on right now that are not under our control,” Schiano said. “You have to live with what you live with. I made it very clear that it's my decision. I made the decision to play some people that maybe weren't a hundred percent, thinking that they were better than someone else was, at 80 percent. I have to reconsider that. I may play the exact same people if they are able. I don't know that. That's what this week's practice is about.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Greg Schiano optimistic after 'call your shot' rant