SAN FRANCISCO — The last time Shaun Hill faced St. Louis, the San Francisco quarterback talked his way out of being benched by coach Mike Singletary. He was that bad.

Backup J.T. O’Sullivan warmed up and was ready to go in the game following three awful quarters by Hill. Singletary had told Hill he was coming out, then the quarterback looked him in the eyes and asked to stay in the game.
Hill looks back on that day now and realizes he put too much pressure on himself. It backfired.
“It was probably a mistake on my part,” he said. “I definitely learned from that.”
The 49ers (2-1) desperately need him to be cool and collected come Sunday, when they won’t have star running back Frank Gore to lead their power run offense against the winless Rams (0-3).
Not that Singletary wants Hill to stray from what has worked so far: the ground game.
“We’re not going to alter it one bit,” Singletary said. “Obviously you’re missing one of the best backs in the league. ... There will be no, ’Shaun you have to take it and put it on you.’ No. We are going to run our offense.”
That means rookie Glen Coffee will pick up Gore’s workload.
Hill will try to protect his perfect 6-0 home record at Candlestick Park, where San Francisco looks to take a stronger hold on first place in the NFC West after already beating reigning division champion Arizona and Seattle.
In that last meeting, at St. Louis, Hill committed the 49ers’ fourth turnover of the day with his third interception late in the third quarter. It led to a Rams field goal and a 16-3 St. Louis lead early in the fourth period. Hill had only eight completions on 19 attempts at that point, then somehow turned things around.
The rest of the way he went 10 of 15 for 127 yards and two TDs to rally the Niners to a thrilling 17-16 victory, hitting Josh Morgan on a 48-yard touchdown pass to win it.
“I just knew I was pretty dad-gummed determined to let him know I was fine,” Hill said at the time of convincing Singletary to keep him in. “I’m sure I had a stern look on my face. I’m glad he stuck with me. My teammates all had my back. Everybody responded and hung in there.”
So far this season, Hill has again been clutch late in games. He owns the NFL’s fifth-best quarterback rating in fourth-quarter passing, 120.8.
Hill looks back at his December performance and largely blames himself for poor decision-making. He was also sacked four times. Then-Rams coach Jim Haslett had no qualms saying, “We gave the game away.”
“The majority of that was on us,” Hill said. “It was the mistakes we were making. They played a different plan against us that week than what they had shown in the past, as well. But the majority of it was us not executing, whether it be me or a receiver or whatever the situation was. We looked bad for three quarters, but we stuck with it and found a way to come away with a W.”
Gore was gone for that one, too, also sidelined with an ankle injury.
The beat-up Rams know how it feels. Quarterback Marc Bulger will probably miss Sunday’s game with a bruised rotator cuff, meaning Kyle Boller would start in his place.
“I think their strength is their linebackers, they’re playing great this year,” Boller said. “Coach Singletary, I was with him in Baltimore and I know his attitude. We have our work cut out for us, but we’re not going to go out there and lay down. We have a lot to prove.”
After Detroit beat Washington last week to end the Lions’ 19-game losing streak, the Rams’ 13-game skid is the league’s longest. St. Louis has lost 30 of 35 since the start of the 2007 season and 13 in a row since beating Dallas in its sixth game of 2008.
“You fight so hard, fight so hard, fight so hard, and then a play here or there and you’re back down,” tight end Randy McMichael said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Once we get away from those errors and crazy mistakes that kill us we’ll be all right.”
Singletary isn’t focused on the Rams’ struggles but rather making sure his team is prepared for everything to bounce back from a last-second 27-24 loss at Minnesota.
“We are playing a football team that is 0-3. That does not matter to us,” Singletary said.
Gore has missed five games in his career because of injury and San Francisco is 1-4 in those contests. His previous fill-ins averaged 60.4 yards per game.
Coffee will start in Gore’s place and Singletary is confident he can handle the task. Coffee, a hard-nosed back drafted in the third round out of Alabama, has 64 yards on 35 carries through three games, with a long of 13.
Rams defensive end Leonard Little knows Coffee could be just as dangerous as Gore if St. Louis doesn’t do its job. The Rams’ defense is trying to generate more turnovers.
“We already know they’re a running team and that’s their whole focus,” Little said. “They’ve got some pretty good backups and the rookie Coffee is pretty good. They’re going to still run the ball on us. They’re not going to change their approach.”
The 49ers know a win Sunday puts them in a strong position through the first half of their NFC West schedule.
“Our first goal is to win our division and our second goal is to have the best record in the NFC, so when it’s time to go to the playoffs teams have to come here and play us at home,” linebacker Patrick Willis said. “It’s a chance for us to go 3-0 in our division.”