St. Louis quarterback AJ McCarron doesn’t expect the wild ending of the game two weeks ago against the D.C. Defenders to affect the rematch on the field on Saturday night. But off the field, he said, the new XFL’s first real rivalry game ought to bring a jolt of excitement for the Battlehawks fans in the stands at the Dome at America’s Center.

The Defenders defeated St. Louis 34-28 on March 5. McCarron threw his fourth touchdown pass with 22 seconds to play, but the former Alabama All-American was sacked on the Battlehawks’ fourth-and-15 bid to keep possession.

That play devolved into a series of pushing-and-shoving groups and player skirmishes that resulted in the ejections of three players. Two days after the game, XFL President Russ Brandon suspended two players for two games apiece and one player for one game and fined six players and two coaches for their roles in the altercation.

“I don’t think it makes any difference, to be honest with you,” McCarron said on Wednesday about how the ending of the March 5 game would affect Saturday night’s contest. “I’ve had battles in my career where in Cincinnati we played tough games against Pittsburgh or Baltimore. It’s a heated rivalry and there’s things that happen in the game, and you got to bounce right back and play them in a couple of weeks after that.

“We just got to play football. Not worry about all the extra stuff that goes on. Just go out, have fun, play this game that we love and focus on the task at hand and how we need to do things right to be successful and focus on us.”

But the bad-blood storyline of the rematch does give the stamp of rivalry to a contest in a league that’s in its fifth week of football.

The Defenders’ victory over the Battlehawks at Audi Field had a reported attendance of 16,212 and ended a season-opening three-game road trip for St. Louis. In the Battlehawks’ first home game, a league-record crowd of 38,310 watched St. Louis defeat the Arlington Renegades 24-11 on Sunday.

“It’s always great playing at home,” McCarron said, “especially with the passion our fans have and how many people were at the Arlington game with – what? — 38,310, so, hopefully, we’re able to sell even more tickets to reach over 40,000 this game and people are excited about our team and what we bring for the city and it’s just another crazy atmosphere.”

Adding to the atmosphere should be the chance to boo the Defenders after what happened in the teams’ first meeting.

“It makes it interesting,” McCarron said, “and it just adds excitement to the game and makes the atmosphere that much more crazy and chaotic at the same time. Then how the game ended, it makes it that much more interesting for the viewers. It definitely is cool to be part of a little XFL rivalry already, and it definitely is fun, for sure.”

The Defenders will be the Battlehawks’ first rematch of the season. St. Louis also will play the Seattle Sea Dragons and Vegas Vipers twice in 2023.

“They’re going to do their stuff,” McCarron said of the D.C. defense. “Gregg Williams is a great defensive coordinator and puts his guys to be in position to try to be successful every time. They’re a great team. They’re undefeated for a reason, so we just got to focus on what we need to do and how we need to do things and play on time. It really is just about us, so just focus on what we need to do and do the right thing to get the job done.”

The Defenders are the XFL’s only unbeaten team. Under the direction of former Alabama State wide receiver and coach Reggie Barlow, D.C. has a 4-0 record.

The Houston Roughnecks entered Week 5 at 4-0, too, but they lost 21-14 to the Sea Dragons on Thursday night.

The only other XFL team that doesn’t have at least two losses is St. Louis at 3-1.

The Defenders and Battlehawks square off at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday. FX and ESPN+ will televise the game.

“Excited about this week and getting out there to have another good battle,” McCarron said. “Hopefully, we have a better outcome this game.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.