Former Alabama All-American AJ McCarron played in a game he’ll “remember forever” on Sunday. One reason the St. Louis quarterback had the opportunity to make that memory by rallying the Battlehawks to an 18-15 victory over the San Antonio Brahmas was the XFL’s rulebook.

“I think that’s what makes the XFL so entertaining — the fact that you have all these different options to choose from” McCarron said on Monday during an appearance on “The Jim Rome Show” on CBS Sports Radio. “… The XFL implementing this extra-point rule and having different options is what makes it entertaining and fun and kind of leaves you in a deal where you’re never completely out of it.

“We executed when we needed to and came out with a win.”

St. Louis trailed 15-3 when San Antonio’s John Parker Romo kicked a 48-yard field goal with 3:02 to play.

McCarron responded by going 7-for-7 for 78 yards on a touchdown drive. The only snap on the series that wasn’t a completion was a sack.

After McCarron’s 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Hakeem Butler with 1:25 to play, the Battlehawks chose to go for a 3-point conversion in an attempt to close within a field goal of the Brahmas’ lead.

The XFL does not kick extra points. The league offers three conversion options as scrimmage plays – 1 point from 2 yards, 2 points from 5 yards and 3 points from 10 yards.

McCarron threw a 3-pointer to wide receiver Austin Proehl.

Trailing 15-12 with 1:25 to play, St. Louis could have kicked off, tried an onside kick or taken a third option – play a snap from its 25-yard line as though it was fourth-and-15. Coach Anthony Becht chose the latter.

Convert, and the Battlehawks would keep the ball. Fail, and San Antonio would have possession at the St. Louis 25.

McCarron converted with a 22-yard completion to Proehl.

“The crazy thing is we repped it for the first time on Friday, or the last practice of the week,” McCarron said. “Hey, this is an opportunity that we could have. If we get in this situation, we’re going to choose between these two plays. And then Bruce (Gradkowski), our (offensive coordinator), being able to ask me: Which one do you like more? I went with the play we ran.

“I knew I was going to have to extend a little bit, try to buy some time, as much as possible. The O-line did an unbelievable job of cleaning up blocks, and then the guys running the routes at the right depths and being where they’re supposed to be and us just making a play was huge and gave us a chance.”

A roughing-the-passer penalty followed the Battlehawks’ successful “onside kick,” before McCarron completed 4-of-5 passes for the final 38 yards to the end zone, with a 14-yard throw to Proehl with 16 seconds to play putting St. Louis on top.

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“From a competing standpoint, I think people who have played with me know that I compete at an all-time high,” McCarron said. “I absolutely hate losing, so the fact that coming from behind and winning the way we did, and then having my boys there – or my two oldest. The third one, my youngest, is at the house back in Mobile. But my two oldest were there, and them being old enough to know what Daddy does and watching the game and being part of it was, like I said, just creating memories for them, and for myself, something that we’ll remember forever.”

Family had something to do with what happened on the field in the final three minutes, too, McCarron said.

“We always preach just family, and I think that’s really and truly what brought us together in the end,” McCarron said. “It was never any doubt. We felt like we always had a chance, and we put it together when we needed it most. …

“Us sticking together and not wavering last night and everybody still just believing that if there was time on the clock, we had a chance to go win it. And then when we got in that two-minute mode to go down and score, it was something that was magical, for sure.”

The Battlehawks return the field quickly as they kick off Week 2 of the XFL season against the Seattle Sea Dragons at 8 p.m. CST Thursday at Lumen Field in Seattle. FX will televise the game.

McCarron had eight seasons in the NFL and said he’d “love” to return. But right now, he said, it’s important for St. Louis to keep its focus on “being where our feet are and being thankful for this opportunity. If we win as a team, it’s just like in college. You win at Alabama, everybody is going to get looked at on that team whether you were a starter or not. People want winners around, and if we just win and take care of business, everybody is going to get their opportunity to play at the next level and have those options, and that’s what you want are options.”

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