The 49ers have an interim head coach (Mike Singletary) and an interim starting quarterback (Shaun Hill). Both men would like to earn the permanent jobs with their performances the remainder of the season, beginning Sunday against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y.

A lot of jobs are at stake in the final five weeks of the season. In addition to Singletary, the remainder of the coaching staff has tenuous futures, including offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

The 49ers have compiled a 1-3 record under Singletary, who took over as interim coach on Oct. 20 when Mike Nolan was fired after 31/2 seasons as head coach. Singletary has not approached the job as an interim situation. Instead, he has tried to put his stamp on the team and do the best job he knows how, he said.

Singletary's case for being named as the permanent coach is not expected to be based solely on wins and losses to finish out the season. In order to remain as the head coach, Singletary will almost surely have to formulate a strategy of handling the major issues that face the club.

The big issue with the 49ers is the future of the team's offense. During Nolan's tenure, the 49ers lacked consistency at two important positions: quarterback and offensive coordinator.

Behind closed doors of the 49ers' organization, the feeling is that the 49ers' starting quarterback of 2009 is currently not under contract with the team. That could be a veteran who is playing elsewhere in the league - or perhaps a draft pick.

The 49ers were in this same position in 2005 when they selected Alex Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. But Smith never materialized for various reasons. The past two seasons, Smith has played just three healthy games because of shoulder injuries.

Smith is scheduled to earn $9.625 million in base salary next season. Clearly, the 49ers will not pay that amount. If Smith wants to return, he'll have to likely accept an incentive-laden one-year contract for the league minimum. Even then, it's not certain that the 49ers will want to bring him back.

J.T. O'Sullivan, who committed 17 turnovers while starting the 49ers' first eight games, is scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the season.

The only quarterback on the roster virtually guaranteed of returning next season is Hill, who signed a three-year, $6 million contract extension in the offseason.

Singletary said he is not spending any time looking to the future. He has not spoken to Smith about his plans, and his focus is on the remainder of the season.

"I think right now all I know is what I have, and I don't take it any farther than that," Singletary said. "We just have the two guys. J.T. and Shaun, and it's just a matter of knowing what I saw last year and being able to try to make a decision going forward (to determine) which gives us the best chance to win.

"Beyond that, there are so many other things to look at that are immediate, and I guess as you get closer to the future then you can look at it a bit."

Niners general manager Scot McCloughan is not ready to make any commitments for next season, either. Singletary is under contract through the end of the season. All the other coaches on the staff, including Martz, have contracts through 2009.

"It all depends which route we take at the end of the season," McCloughan said. "We want success. We want to finish the season with success and go from there."

Hill finds himself in a similar role as late last season when he was thrust into the starting lineup after injuries to Smith and then-backup Trent Dilfer. But Hill is not only auditioning for a job. He's auditioning for a 49ers starting job.

And the best way for Hill to set himself up for the future is to take care of his business in real time.

"I try not to think too far ahead, that's for sure," Hill said. "We're still just taking it one game at a time. That's the approach I need to take."

SERIES HISTORY: 10th regular-season meeting. The Bills lead the regular-season series 5-4. The Bills won the last meeting between the teams, 41-7, late in the 2004 season. The 49ers' last trip to Buffalo was in 1998, when they lost 26-21.