A sideline reporter on NBC's Notre Dame football package as well as the network's NFL "Sunday Night Football", was on the sideline Thursday night for the NFL Network's presentation of the 49ers-Chargers game from Qualcomm Stadium.

Raised in Arizona, Flanagan is married to former Torrey Pines High star Kevin Flanagan. The two met when the 6-foot-9 Kevin was playing basketball at the University of Arizona.

And after some travels, Kevin and Alex moved their family to the Rancho Santa Fe area.

"We were living in Orange County, not really looking to make a move," Alex said. "But Kevin's job brought us to San Diego. For him to be home, to be near his family has been huge for us."

Kevin Flanagan, who played on the 1989 Torrey Pines CIF San Diego Section Division II championship team along with Courtie Miller and played on Arizona's 1994 Final Four team, is vice-president of marketing for Reef, Inc., a swim and active wear giant.

The 6-foot Alex started her TV career in Minnesota after graduating from Arizona. She moved to Alabama, then to Fox Sports Net and ESPN where she worked for five years as a sideline reporter and general-assignment reporter.

She joined the NFL Network in 2006 and NBC in 2007.

In addition to her sideline work for the NFL Network, she works the "NFL Total Access" show from the network's L.A. studios.

And she worked the 2008 Summer Olympics for NBC.

This is her first year working three football jobs.

"Between Notre Dame, Thursday nights and Sunday nights, I'm on two, three or more flights a week," Alex said. "It has been a crazy year, but I love it.

"This season has presented me with a great opportunity."

Through all the flights, games and hectic weekends, Flanagan -- a mother of three -- stresses she's still a working mom.

"My job presents me with a unique opportunity," she said. "From September through January I'm intensely involved in my work.

"After that, I get to focus on being a mom."

She admits, however, all the running around, crisscrossing the country, talking to players and coaches, can be strenuous.

"It's like running a marathon," she said. "And things kind of run together. Honestly, there have been times I'm at the hotel and try my key in room 1917 instead of 1719, realizing 1917 was my room in last week's hotel.

"But it's really neat to be part of a lot of games, to be part of NBC's marquee game as well as the Thursday night game."

She has had some big games this season, covering the Indianapolis Colts four times, the Eagles and Michael Vick in his first game back in the NFL and in his first start of the season.

She has been to the new stadium in Dallas, calling it "amazing, kind of like Las Vegas and New York City meets football." She's covered two New York Jets games as well as Donavan McNabb's return to Philadelphia.

And she was on the sidelines for the Army-Notre Dame game in Yankee Stadium, a game she called "one of the coolest experiences of my career."

"I'm really looking forward to Thursday, though." she said. " "For one, I don't have to get on an airplane. More importantly, though, this game is meaningful. The 49ers and Chargers are both fighting for the playoffs.

"It has a big-game feel."

Asked if she's rooting for the Chargers because she's married to a San Diegan and lives here now, Flanagan said, "We all root for a close game, a game that's decided in the last minutes.

"That's my favorite."

While Flanagan loves her work, she said the sidelines at a football game aren't her favorite vantage point.

"It's impossible to see," she said. "But I love being at the venues, being part of live action, going to the meetings, reading up on the teams, watching film.

"The drawback is you do a lot of preparation, then depending on the direction of the game, you may be on the air only three minutes.

"The challenge is to be interesting and concise in the 30 seconds you're given. The NFL Network has given me a great opportunity to do live studio shows, do more than just the sidelines.

"And I love it all."

More on the Flanagans

Alex said Kevin Flanagan still plays pickup basketball games with former Arizona players, including Jud Buechler and Steve Kerr.

Both Buechler and Kerr have children playing at Torrey Pines High.

Reily Buechler is a freshman volleyball player for the Falcons.

Nick Kerr is a star basketball player at Torrey Pines and headed for USD on a scholarship.

"I don't know if our children inherited the same athletic gene that Jud and Steve's children did," Alex said. "But I guarantee our children will be tall."