The Birmingham Stallions won the USFL championship in 2022, and they started the 2023 season on Saturday night in championship form.

After the Stallions recovered a fumble to end the New Jersey Generals’ first possession, quarterback J’Mar Smith uncorked a long pass to wide receiver Austin Watkins Jr., who made a finger-tip catch and tumbled into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown on Birmingham’s first offensive snap of the season.

The USFL kicked off its season on Saturday with two games. The Philadelphia Stars defeated the Memphis Showboats 27-23 in the opener in Memphis, with the nightcap at Protective Stadium.

Unlike 2022, when the USFL staged its entire regular season in Birmingham, the league is playing games in four cities in 2023, with Canton, Ohio, and Detroit joining Birmingham and Memphis.

The New Orleans Breakers are sharing Protective Stadium with the Stallions this season. The Breakers open their schedule against the Pittsburgh Maulers at 5:30 p.m. CDT Sunday in Birmingham.

RELATED: REUBEN FOSTER RETURNS TO ALABAMA FOR HIS FIRST GAME IN MORE THAN 4 YEARS

Smith helped the Stallions win the USFL title last season, but Watkins is in his first season in the league.

A 1,000-yard receiver for UAB in 2019, Watkins has been on the rosters of the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL without getting into a regular-season game.

Watkins entered the USFL in October when he signed with the Tampa Bay Bandits, who have since become the Memphis Showboats. Birmingham obtained Watkins from Memphis in a trade on Jan. 11.

RELATED: FORMER AUBURN WIDE RECEIVER MAKING RETURN IN USFL

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